Customer Reviews

SQL for Dummies

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The last time I worked with databases, my entire computer (RAM + mass storage) had less than one MEGAbyte of memory. No hard disk, just two 360 kB floppy disk drives and 128K of RAM. I just got saddled with a data-mining project that will process tens of gigabytes of data in a networked environment. My analysis tools can use SQL to access the data. This book was the first thing I insisted on. (Kind of embarassing for a senior person to be seen carrying a thick yellow and black book with the word "DUMMIES" on it ...)

This has proven to be an excellent starting point. I know plenty about computers and programming. I vaguely remember the essentials of relational databases (for those who don't, basic information is in the book, it should be enough to get started, even if you are absolutely ignorant!) Taylor packaged enough of the right information that I could read his book over the weekend and dive into the planning stages of our project on Monday sounding like I knew a thing or two.

The book charts a course from the most basic elements of databases to modestly complicated database and query materials. The author discusses common pitfalls and useful strategies. This book isn't enough, by itself, to turn somebody into a database wonk, but it's a great starting point.

I got a bit annoyed by some of the "cute" material used to make the subject seem less threatening, but that filler doesn't take up too much space and is easily skipped. Also, the book is overly Microsoft centered--the author uses Windows applications as examples and champions Microsofts ODBC. A section about using SQL in a Unix/Linux environment should have been included (access from shell scripts, PERL, etc?). A solid four-star introduction to SQL and database technology in a Microsoft world.

(If you'd like to discuss this book or review in more detail, please click on the "about me" link above and drop me some email. Thanks!)

I'm not sure why someone who already knows SQL would want to use a "Dummies" book. If 'SQL for Dummies' is indeed meant for the average "Dummy" then it skips the most important aspect of this series - catering to someone who knows little or nothing about the topic.

The jokes are not funny - and concentrating on the badly written text becomes increasingly difficult. The author does a poor job of introducing the SQL code and what each function does. He doesn't teach at all - which is what he should be doing.

For a great introduction to SQL, try Judith Bowman's 'The Practical SQL Handbook'. It is a far superior text - an easier read, insightful, helpful, and most of all - it teaches a novice the ins and outs of complex databases and coding in SQL for the REAL world. 'SQL for Dummies', however, does not fit in with the 'Dummies' series. If that's why you want this book, then look elsewhere.

First off, I must stress that after I finished reading this book I did walk away with a far greater knowledge of SQL. To this end the book served its purpose and was worth the time/money I invested in the book.

My most serious criticism is that the early chapters introduced complex examples, which I forced myself to understand...only to discover that the author explained the issues more thoroughly at a later stage. On page 55 the author explains the MIN function with a sub/nested SQL query...introducing nested queries at such an early stage was a little confusing and it distracted me from the function being discussed.

As a result I spent considerable time working through the early chapters...but the later chapters were easy to follow.

Had the author taken a bit of time to consider the placement and appropriateness of each example, this book would have received a 4/5 rating in my mind. Of course an indirect advantage of this lack of fore-thought is that if the reader is prepared to work through the earlier examples the learning process is much more active.

I have read several books in the Dummies series and found them all excellent, so when it was time to learn SQL for a programming project I got this one immediately.

Unfortunately, SQL for Dummies, turned out to be that absolute worst technical book I have ever laid eyes on.

It jumps from topic to topic without ever really explaining anything. It uses examples that are unecessarily complex -- I get the feeling his examples just come from years of working with databases, rather than a desire to illustrate any particular thing -- and the examples are never explained. Over and over, there will be a snippet of SQL code used as an example, and I will wonder, "what does this or that part of the statement do?" But he never explains anything. He just throws it out there and then moves on.

Dummies books always have a conversational tone, but the tone in this book is overly hokey and just reads like meaningless filler; all the more frustrating because there isn't really any content that it's filling in between.

All I wanted was the basics of database design and interaction, an enumeration of the commands used for creating and interacting with databases and why some actions are useful and for what, and examples throughout of how one would do typical things. Instead I got an intolerable and incoherent ramble.

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.

Buying any book targeted for 'dummies' sets the record straight in terms of my knowledge of SQL. I'm a South African computer science student and bought SQL for Dummies to supplement material prescribed by the university.

Firstly, the book is set out in an easy to understand manner starting with the section called Contents at a Glance and followed by an extensive Table of Contents. The text uses icons for tips, things to remember, warnings, technical stuff, etc. which reinforces key concepts.

Mr Taylor conveys his thoughts on a serious subject, particularly for first timers, in a humourous manner making the subject even more accessible. The contents of the book is set out in clear and concise way, with key topics highlighted. The book is extensive in its covering of the subject, not only directed at building and extracting information from a database, but also giving information on security issues and using SQL with the internet.

I found the book of particular use and can recommend it to any newcomers to SQL.

The book is well organized and simple for beginners to understand. It starts off with the simple stuff and works up to more complicated issues such as unions etc. If your a beginner, I recommend this book highly. If you have access to a SQL database at home, the examples are easy to follow, although depending on your database you may need to tweak the language a little.

A good introduction to SQL for people who have some programming experience, and need to know how to integrate their applications with a database, and for people who use MS Access, but want to work independently of the query design grid. The book is especially good for defining the common SQL and database terminology. It was nice to finally get a thorough explanation of the various types of joins, and the brief chapter on ODBC was pleasantly simple. SQL is not a very exciting subject, however, and a little more humor would have been helpful to ward off boredom. Some hands-on exercises for MS Access, VB or SQL Server would have been helpful.

About a year ago, I was writing up a series of lessons for a course in Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC) that I was preparing for a local business. As is always the case, they needed the course right away, so I had little time to prepare the lessons. To illustrate what can be done using JDBC, I used the executeQuery() method of the Statement object. The executeQuery() method accepts an SQL command as input, so it was necessary for me to quickly brush up on SQL commands. This is the book I reached for to get myself back to speed on SQL commands. Like all ""For Dummies" books, it can be used to quickly learn the basics of the topic, although it has little use beyond the beginning. I found it adequate for my needs at the time, although when I needed to delve deeper into SQL for a later course, I went elsewhere.

All of the basics are covered at the level one expects from the series, and at the level of the beginner. Of course, some people will struggle with the book, as there is no precise definition of "beginner", or "dummy" for that matter. Nevertheless, if you need to learn the fundamentals of SQL in a hurry, then this book is the one for you. It is simple, direct and just thorough enough to put you on the right track.

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.