Murach's Oracle SQL and PL/SQL: Works with All Versions Through 11g

Product has been extemely helpful, great as refresher even better when looking for assistance with processes never completed before. Excellent resource.

I am new to Oracle SQL. I bought another book, but it did not have detail or examples. I found this book to a very straight forward presentaion that included sample code and explanations. I generally use it as a referece manual by looking up code and syntax. There are some PL/SQL featues not covered, but they are very advanced. My understanding of Oracle SQL has greatly improved since I obtained this book.

I highly recommend this book. Within a very short period I was able to master the subject with this book at my side.

Got stuck on one of my Oracle 9i assignments and it took just one look in this book and I was all set and ready to take on this other assignments. It is really a reliable reference book. One you should always have at your fingertips if you use the Oracle database system or if you are learning about the system. I wish I had this book as a backup to my textbook when I first bagan the class or even before I begin. Save the stress and don't fall into my misfortune of stressing over something that could be solved easily with this book.

Murach books have a reputation for accessibility to the novice user. Murach's Oracle SQL and PL/SQL is just as accessible to the novice, but also contains plenty to assist other Oracle users. The first section is truly non-threatening and is possibly too basic to be of real use in the context of the whole book. It is a short introduction to databases and the Oracle tools but doesn't contain much depth. The second section digs deeper into interacting with databases and is primarily aimed at standard and Oracle-specific SQL syntax. Section 3 introduces good (and essential) database practices such as normalisation, user and role management, indexes, foreign keys and other aspects of database design. Section 4 covers some PL/SQL basics and finally Section 5 covers the more complicated data types. I mention all of that since I found the name of the book slightly misleading, but in a good way. The focus of the book is on building and maintaining the skills required for running Oracle SQL and PL/SQL and while Sections 3 and 5 could have been omitted, the book is better because of the inclusion. Sections 2 and 4 are the main sections and both are well written for both teaching and reference resources, and Section 2 in particular highlights the important information for each piece of knowledge. The result is a book that is great for Oracle novices, although possibly not if you are a complete database novice, but also great for intermediate users casual users like myself. Personally I use the database dictated by clients, so I look forward to having this on hand when making the next switch back to the Oracle database. It won't get you an Oracle DBA job, but it will help you get more out of your database.