Oracle SQL: the Essential Reference [Paperback]

David C. Kreines (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2000

SQL (Structured Query Language) is the heart of a relational database management system. It's the language used to query the database, to create new tables in the database, to update and delete database fields, and to set privileges in the database. Oracle SQL: The Essential Reference is for everyone who needs to access an Oracle database using SQL--developers, DBAs, designers, and managers.

SQL is based on research dating back to the late 1960s, but its first commercial release was in the RDBMS announced by the fledgling Oracle Corporation in 1979. Since that time, every other database vendor has adopted SQL, and ANSI and the ISO have made it a standard. Although vendors diverge in their extensions to SQL, the core language is standard across vendor boundaries.

Despite SQL's long history and relative simplicity, few developers and database administrators are truly masters of SQL. The constant stream of vendor enhancements, the hard-won experience in tuning SQL for best performance, and the requirements of particular operational environments mean that there is always more to learn about SQL.

Oracle SQL: The Essential Reference delivers all the information needed to keep ahead of the learning curve on standard SQL and Oracle's extensions to it. This single, concise reference volume will hold its own against a stack of Oracle manuals and even yield insights and examples not available in those manuals.

There are chapters on basic SQL elements (naming requirements, column types, pseudo-types, data conversion rules, operators); Data Definition Language (DDL) and Data Manipulation Language (DML); common language elements (constraints, storage clause, predicates); SQL functions; PL/SQL (including procedures, functions, and packages); SQL*Plus, and Oracle SQL optimization and tuning. The book covers Oracle 8i, release 8.1.6.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Kreines is the Manager of Database Services for Rhodia, Inc., and author of Oracle SQL: The Essential Reference (O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2000) and coauthor of Oracle in a Nutshell (with Rick Greenwald) (O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2002), Oracle Database Administration: The Essential Reference (with Brian Laskey) (O'Reilly Media, Inc., 1999) and Oracle Scripts (with Brian Lomasky) (O'Reilly Media, Inc., 1998). Dave has worked with Oracle as a developer and database administrator since 1985, on a wide variety of platforms, from PCs to mainframes. He is an Oracle Certified Professional, is certified as a DBA, and has been a frequent contributor to Oracle conferences, user groups, and publications, both in the United States and in Europe. Dave served two terms as president of the International Oracle Users Group -Americas (IOUG-A), and spent ten years on the board of directors.

Product Details

• Paperback: 418 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565926978
• ISBN-13: 978-1565926974
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,588,206 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oracle SQL: The Essential Refernce, November 8, 2000

By 

Stephen A Gillotte (Raleigh, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oracle SQL: the Essential Reference (Paperback)

This book is exactly what it says it is. It is a solid (in comparison to other reference books that I have used) reference guide to ORACLE's implementation of the SQL language.

If you are looking for a tutorial on SQL, then this is probably not the book that you want to buy. This is a good book if you are a developer whom needs a quick reference guide.

The beginning section of the reference chapter is, in my opinion, a little bit of a kluge. The authors attempt to list everything that a DBA/developer might need to do. This LONG list simply states the command needed. You then need to look up the syntax in the index (why not just put the page number right there?) The list covers multiple pages, so it can be troublesome to read (if you don't know the exact terminology).

I must admit that I am a beginner SQL developer, so I have only used a limited amount of the commands, but it has been very useful for the commands that I have used, and in helping me expand what I am using SQL for. I must stress that it is NOT a tutorial.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference, January 26, 2001

By 

Anthony Fodor (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oracle SQL: the Essential Reference (Paperback)

I agree with the previous reviewer that this book is not a tutorial. But it is an outstanding reference that will save you many long, frustrating and tedious hours of pouring through the Oracle documentation looking for the syntax of various Oracle commands. I've been spending the last few months developing a JDBC based application and this is the only book that I carry with me between work and home.

If you've ever been kept up late trying to get the syntax right on some complex SELECT or CREATE TABLE command, this is the book for you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't live without this book, June 18, 2001

By 

Monica Israels "OffroadGirl" (Westminster, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oracle SQL: the Essential Reference (Paperback)

Well maybe you could live without this book if you had food and water, but you wouldn't be happy about it. SQL isn't especially difficult, but it's hard to remember all of the syntax. Then couple this with the differences between Oracle's SQL and other database's versions and you have a serious headache that will not go away.

As in almost all O'Reilly books, this one is very well-organized and easy to follow. There are just enough examples to get you by, though if you are coupling Oracle, SQL and a scripting language like ColdFusion you might get confused with the "command line only" examples.

Oracle's Technet reference online is also good for this information, but they have a tendency to move URLs when you least expect it. This book is relatively inexpensive, and when kept within arm's reach you can whip out SQL queries in nothing flat. Earmark the reserved words section and remember where the Aggregate Functions section starts and you should be good.

The first half of the text is really enough to recommend the purchase, but this book also goes over SQL*Plus and PL/SQL, as well as some brief tips on SQL statement tuning. It isn't enough to be complete, but it's more than enough to get you started.

This is an indispensible book!