SQL for Dummies

This is a book that I really wish that I'd had when I first started doing a web application that was to use an Access database for the backend data. I looked at a lot of Access books, but none of them went into Access SQL. For that alone this book is worth five stars. This book starts with a bit of discussion on the fundamentals of a relational database, but not too much. After all, this is covered in all the Access books. It quickly gets into the fundamentals of SQL itself. I was a bit concerned when he started using the Microsoft graphical design tools to create the database, but he quickly went into using SQL CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE commands. From there on he went on to a reasonable complete but elementary discussion on using most the the rest of SQL. You gotta have a few complaints, so: There is discussion in the book, including a list of reserved words for SQL:2003. But Access doesn't talk SQL:2003. It doesn't even talk SQL:92, it's an extended SQL:89. A list of Access reserved words would have been nice. He doesn't talk about the two database engines in Access, Jet and MSDE; and these two engines speak very different dialects of SQL.

I bought SQL for Dummies when I was handed a web project that demanded a high traffic database. Previous to the purchase I had only worked with flat text files and had no SQL experience. This book can take you from basic database design all the way up to advanced SQL issues. Thanks to SQL for Dummies I never lost pace with the project. It explained terms and issues very plainly. It also had excellent example code. I still use the book today as an excellent reference tool.If you were stranded on Database Island, this would be the only book you would need...

I spent a lot of time looking for a book that actually covered ANSI 92 SQL, and even though I vowed a long time ago to never buy a 'Dummies' book, this one was an exception and worth every penny spent! My database du-jour (Oracle RDB) is not a particularly well known or used database and with the help of Mr. Taylor I was able to create some very complicated embedded SQL statements, allowing my client to make some pretty important multi-million dollar decisions. Thanks Mr. Taylor for a well written book.

I found myself in a Borland C++ Builder seminar full of database programmers who all new SQL. Fortunately, most of them didn't know C++. The seminar leader recommended this book to me and I found it useful as a primer. It has good examples which I've used repeatedly. It is especially nice for Borland C++ Builder users since that is the RAD tool which the author is using. It covers most of the features of SQL supported by the Borland Database Engine for Database creation and manipulation, although I found it somewhat lacking in the area of security. I've read several other books on the subject now and I think it compares favorably with most. I find the subject of normalization lacking in all of the books. If you are new to SQL my recommendation is to reduce the subject of normalization down to this: keep the long tables skinny and the fat tables short and minimize data redundancy. If your new to SQL it's a good starting place and worth the price. It's especially useful for BCB or Delphi Programmers.

This is a truly excellent book. I bought it knowing very little about databases, and to my pleasant surprise found that it covers far more than simply SQL - it also gives you a thorough and easy-to-understand grounding in what databases are, how they work, and why they work the way they do. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand databases from scratch, as well as anyone wanting to learn SQL.