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SQL, Second Edition Review by Jerry Saperstein
Excellent SQL Reference
Most of the titles in the Visual Quickstart Guide series that I've acquired have been very useful and "SQL" by Chris Fehily is no exception. I use SQL relatively rarely and this book is an excellent reference and refresher when I need a fast immersion in SQL.
The Visual Quickstart Guides teach by - you guessed it - visual examples and this is no exception. Fehily's writing style is spare and direct with few wasted words. There is a somewhat generalized introduction to the nature of SQL. The Introduction is actually a model of what such a chapter should be like. It is direct, to the point and covers the major things, in general, that you need to know about SQL.
He then moves deeper into the basics of SQL before advancing on basic SQL operations, such as retrieving data from a table, operators and functions, summarizing and grouping data and so on. Reading this book alone will not make you an expert SQL programmer, but it will certainly help you do more than muddle through basic SQL operations, which generally are all you need.
I've had this book on my shelf for a long time and, as I said, when the need for me to deal with SQL arises, it's the first reference I pick up.
Jerry