A good primer on Structured Queries for SQL
This book has short chapters and a lot of examples. It is a good "second" book for an Introductory SQL course.
Attention Newbies to SQL - - This is your Book!!!
I am currently enrolled in a Database Management (Oracle/SQL) class at Boston College. Right off the bat, I knew I was in trouble when we were told the professor would be unavailable for help and most of students in class were computer science majors. (I was taking the class to broaden my computer skills above and beyond front-end web design.) The textbook in class was the heinously monstrous 1200+ page Oracle 9i The Complete Reference by Kevin Loney. After struggling through many chapters and finding our professor's teaching style very unhelpful, I decided it was time for another resource.
I checked on Amazon ... and found Sam's Teach Yourself SQL in 10 minutes to be semi-helpful. Then at the Harvard Coop, I stumbled upon it - - A VISUAL INTRODUCTION TO SQL. The problem, I realized, was that I am a visual learner and need to see all the schema tables and step-by step actions to describe what happens as I develop queries. This books is key for any layman, like myself. It walks you through very basic (and more complex) problems in an easy-to-read visual approach. While using SQL on the PC, viewing the tables is difficult and this book helps you map out the problems to figure them out. I was especially impressed after emailing the author about a table question and getting a personalized response.
If you are in a bind to learn SQL on your own, this book is great and won't kill you lugging it around either.
P.S. A great addition I found to this book was a Mac client software (that can access Oracle Databases) called SQL Grinder. Like the book, this program is also very visual and the GUI (MAC) clearly reigns over any PC. Sorry Windows users! Thanks for your help, David Chappell! ;-)
All the Basics and More
This book doesn't assume that you are familiar with databases or the SQL programming language. It teaches you the programming language step-by-step using a graphic approach. A great way to learn SQL.
Excellent beginners book in SQL
I used this book when I needed to pick up SQL fast. I worked in an organization where I had to build Teradata Data Bases and used SQL to select and move the data. The illustrations really help visualize every aspect of assembling an SQL program and how it interfaces with the data base. I still use it today when I need to be reminded of a particular syntax. Don't loan this book out if you ever want to see it again. I did and now I'm buying another book!
The ONLY SQL book I recommend for beginners
This is a GREAT book for foundation skills in SQL. I used this book to teach myself SQL when I was "elected" to implement an Oracle database system at a former job and have since gone on to become an Oracle developer and DBA. The concepts and techniques learned in this book have served me well along the way. I have taught Oracle development in a technical school, and insisted that they use this book in the classroom. The diagrammatic approach to learning about tables, columns, joins and SQL functions seems to "click" with everyone who encounters it.
I'm writing this review after buying my ?10th? copy of this book - don't loan it out if you need to keep your copy.
