As the Title Says, Good Beginning Book

This is a good general introduction to using SQL to build a database, put some data into it and then to get it back out when you need to use it for something. The author says that all of the SQL examples have been tested using MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, Microsoft Access, and Oracle 10g. That says that the SQL used in the examples has to be very general in nature and not take advantage of newer and more powerful commands that have come about since these programs were written (particularly Access which uses the Jet engine that's more or less compliant with SQL:89).

This is not a bad approach, because while you might miss out on some of the nifty commands, your code will be compatiable with virtually any database that you are using. You will find comments in the book like when discussing the substring function he says "MS Access doesn't utilize the SUBSTRING() function. Instead, it employs the MID() function...." I don't know how he could have done it any differently without writing five different books.

This is an excellent beginning book. Use it to get started and to understand the concepts behind the SQL language. Then you may want to get a higher level book on the particular database you are using.

Other Reviews

• Excellent SQL Book for starters
• Great beginner guide to SQL
• could have put more info
• Does a beginner need to know about performance tuning?
• As the Title Says, Good Beginning Book