Ben Forta is Macromedia Corporation's product evangelist for the ColdFusion product line. Ben has over 15 years of experience in the computer industry, and spent 6 years as part of the development team responsible for creating OnTime, one of the most successful calendar and group-scheduling products, with over one million users worldwide. Ben is the author of the popular ColdFusion Web Application Construction Kit, and its sequel Advanced ColdFusion 4 Application Development. His book
Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes is one of the world's bestselling SQL books with over 100,000 copies sold.
IntroductionIntroduction
MySQL has become one of the most popular database management systems in the world. From small development projects to some of the best-known and most prestigious sites on the Web, MySQL has proven itself to be a solid, reliable, fast, and trusted solution to all sorts of data storage needs.
This book is based on my best-selling Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes. That book has become one of the most-used SQL tutorials in the world, with an emphasis on teaching what you really need to know—methodically, systematically, and simply. But as popular and as successful as that book is, it does have some limitations:
In covering all of the major DBMSs, coverage of DBMS-specific features and functionality had to be kept to a minimum.
To simplify the SQL taught, the lowest common denominator had to be found—SQL statements that would (as much as possible) work with all major DBMSs. This requirement necessitated that better DBMS-specific solutions not be covered.
Although basic SQL tends to be rather portable between DBMSs, more advanced SQL most definitely is not. As such, that book could not cover advanced topics, such as triggers, cursors, stored procedures, access control, transactions, and more, in any real detail.
And that is where this book comes in. MySQL Crash Course builds on the proven tutorials and structure of Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, without getting bogged down with anything but MySQL. Starting with simple data retrieval and working on to more complex topics, including the use of joins, subqueries, regular expression and full text-based searches, stored procedures, cursors, triggers, table constraints, and much more. You'll learn what you need to know methodically, systematically, and simply—in highly focused chapters designed to make you immediately and effortlessly productive.
So turn to Chapter 1, and get to work. You'll be taking advantage of all MySQL has to offer in no time at all.
Who Is This Book For?
This book is for you if
You are new to SQL.
You are just getting started with MySQL and want to hit the ground running.
You want to quickly learn how to get the most out of MySQL.
You want to learn how to use MySQL in your own application development.
You want to be productive quickly and easily using MySQL without having to call someone for help.
Companion Website
This book has a companion website online at http://forta.com/books/0672327120/. Visit the site to access
Table creation and population scripts used to create the example tables used throughout this book
Visit the online support forum
Access online errata (should one be required)
Find other books that may be of interest to you
Conventions Used in This Book
This book uses different typefaces to differentiate between code and regular English, and also to help you identify important concepts.
Text that you type and text that should appear on your screen is presented in monospace type. It looks like this to mimic the way text looks on your screen.
Placeholders for variables and expressions appear in monospace italic font. You should replace the placeholder with the specific value it represents.
This arrow (¬) at the beginning of a line of code means that a single line of code is too long to fit on the printed page. Continue typing all the characters after the ¬ as though they were part of the preceding line.
Note - A Note presents interesting pieces of information related to the surrounding discussion.
Tip - A Tip offers advice or teaches an easier way to do something.
Caution - A Caution advises you about potential problems and helps you steer clear of disaster.
Note - A New Term box provide clear definitions of new, essential terms.
/Input
The Input icon identifies code that you can type in yourself. It usually appears next to a listing.
/Output
The Output icon highlights the output produced by running MySQL code. It usually appears after a listing.
/Analysis
The Analysis icon alerts you to the author's line-by-line analysis of input or output.
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