SQL in a Nutshell - Softcover

Kline, Kevin E.; Kline, Daniel; Hunt, Brand

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0596518846 ISBN 13: 9780596518844

Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc, 2008

Synopsis

For programmers, analysts, and database administrators, SQL in a Nutshell is the essential reference for the SQL language used in today's most popular database products. This new edition clearly documents every SQL command according to the latest ANSI standard, and details how those commands are implemented in Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Oracle 11g, and the MySQL 5.1 and PostgreSQL 8.3 open source database products. You'll also get a concise overview of the Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) model, and a clear-cut explanation of foundational RDBMS concepts -- all packed into a succinct, comprehensive, and easy-to-use format. This book provides: * Background on the Relational Database Model, including current and previous SQL standards * Fundamental concepts necessary for understanding relational databases and SQL commands * An alphabetical command reference to SQL statements, according to the SQL2003 ANSI standard * The implementation of each command by MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server * An alphabetical reference of the ANSI SQL2003 functions, as well as the vendor implementations * Platform-specific functions unique to each implementation Beginning where vendor documentation ends, SQL in a Nutshell distills the experiences of professional database administrators and developers who have used SQL variants to support complex enterprise applications. Whether SQL is new to you, or you've been using SQL since its earliest days, you'll get lots of new tips and techniques in this book.

About this title

Review:

SQL in a Nutshell applies the classic O'Reilly Nutshell format to Structured Query Language (SQL), the elegant descriptive language that's used to create and manipulate stores of data. This book explains the purpose and proper syntax of hundreds of SQL statements as defined in four major SQL implementations, detailing each entry with explanatory text and illustrative examples. Perhaps best of all, authors Kevin and Daniel Kline feature MySQL in their coverage, giving it billing equal to that of Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and PostgreSQL. Their inclusion of open-source MySQL, which carries no license fee in most situations, is recognition of its growing popularity and suitability for serious database applications. It also improves this book's appeal to Unix and Linux developers.

The majority of this slender book comprises eminently useful syntax documentation (which is in the style of Unix man pages, with bracketed options and monospace arguments) and the other information that's specific to individual statements and functions. Additionally, it includes a relatively small amount of conceptual information, such as a section on the proper use of NULL values. The material that's not statement-specific also contrasts the four covered platforms' implementations of datatypes--readers learn that a PostgreSQL int2 value is known as a "smallint" in ANSI standard SQL, for example. This is a handy reference book, particularly if you use one of the emphasised SQL implementations. --David Wall

Topics covered: Structured Query Language (SQL) as it is implemented in Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and PostgreSQL, as well as in ANSI standard SQL (SQL92 and SQL99). After an introduction to datatypes and relational database fundamentals (the latter is not emphasised), the authors document SQL statements and functions one by one, alphabetically. They take care to point out differences among the four implementations.

Review:

An invaluable desktop reference for those who deal with SQL at a professional level. Compact and well designed. -- Major Keary, PC Update March 2002

About this edition

• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0596518846
• ISBN 13: 9780596518844
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 578