SQL Queries for Mere Mortals(R): A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL [Paperback]

Michael J. Hernandez (Author), John L. Viescas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201433362 | ISBN-13: 978-0201433364 | Publication Date: August 31, 2000

Now there's a practical, hands-on guide to SQL for millions of beginning-to-intermediate database users who desperately need to create fast, accurate, effective queries -- whether they have formal database training or not. The authors begin by introducing the fundamental concepts underlying relational databases and SQL. They then introduce the absolute basics of SQL, including the SELECT statement, creating expressions, and applying filters. Next, they introduce techniques for solving one of the most common problems database users encounter: drawing data from multiple tables at once. The book includes detailed coverage of grouping, totaling, and summarizing data; using SQL to update, insert, and delete data; and more. In the final section, Hernandez and Viescas introduce "thinking out of the box" techniques that allow users to solve a wide variety of complex SQL problems. Most chapters end with sample problems, solutions, and result sets -- all based on a library of five real-world databases included on the accompanying CD-ROM.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

To the people who are accomplished in its use, Structured Query Language (SQL) is a highly capable, eminently flexible, even beautiful way of describing the data that you want from a database, or the changes that you want to make to a database. For the rest of us, however, SQL is a first-class nuisance that we do our best to avoid by relying on relatively user-friendly--but usually less powerful--tools. SQL Queries for Mere Mortals aims to bring SQL-phobes closer to the first camp by tutoring them carefully in what SQL can do.

The authors recognize that SQL queries usually come about as a result of questions from human beings, and so usefully spend a fair bit of time showing how to convert, say, "In what cities do our customers live?" into, "Select city from the customers table" and, finally, "SELECT city FROM customers" in SQL. They call this the "translation and clean up" process, and it's a fine approach. They don't press it too far, however, and are equally adept at presenting straight explanations of SQL syntax elements in prose. They spend a lot of energy graphically diagramming aspects of SQL syntax in a format that requires some up-front study. A particular reader might prefer text capsules to this arrow-intensive format, but other learners might like the graphical syntax diagrams. --David Wall

Topics covered: ANSI SQL/92 for people who need to use it to make queries against business databases. The authors introduce one or two syntax elements at a time--SELECT, WHERE, JOIN, UNION, and so on--and cover data extraction, data insertion, filtering, joins, calculations, and other capabilities of generic SQL.

From the Inside Flap

"Language is by its very nature a communal thing; that is, it expresses never the exact thing but a compromise--that which is common to you, me, and everybody."
--Thomas Earnest Hulme, Speculations Learning how to retrieve information from a database is commonly a perplexing exercise. However, it can be a relatively easy task--as long as you understand the question you're posing to the database. Once you understand the question, you can translate it into the language used by any database system, which in most cases is Structured Query Language (SQL). You have to translate your request into an SQL statement so that your database system knows what information you want to retrieve. SQL provides the means for you and your database system to communicate with each other. Throughout our many years as database consultants, we've found that the number of people who merely need to retrieve information from a database far outnumber those who are charged with the task of creating programs and applications for a database. Unfortunately, no books focus solely on the subject of retrieving information, particularly from a "mere mortals" viewpoint. There are numerous good books on SQL, to be sure, but most are targeted toward database programming and development.

With this in mind, we decided it was time to write a book that would help people learn how to query a database properly and effectively. The result of our decision is in your hands. This book is unique among SQL books in that it focuses only on the querying portion of SQL. When you finish reading this book, you'll have the skills you need to retrieve any information you require. Writing a book such as this is always a cooperative effort. There are always editors, colleagues, friends, and relatives willing to lend their support and provide valuable advice when we need it the most. These folks continually provide us with encouragement, help us to remain focused, and motivate us to see this project through to the end. First and foremost, we want to thank our editor, Mary O'Brien, for the opportunity to write this book. She saw the potential of an idea we had and pursued it with great dedication. We'd also like to thank Mary and her assistant, Mariann Kourafas, for their great patience and unwavering support throughout the many months we were writing this book. And we can't forget Marilyn Rash and the production staff--great job, guys! Next, we'd like to acknowledge our technical editors Malcom C. Rubel, Michael Blaha, Alexander Tarasul, and Keith W. Hare. Malcom, as always, it's great to have you on the team! Michael and Alexander, thanks for all your thoughtful comments and suggestions. And a special thanks to Keith--he corrected a few minor errors we had in the SQL history timeline and provided much of the information for the What the Future Holds section of Chapter 3. Thanks once again to all of you for your time and input and for helping us to make this a solid treatise on SQL queries. Finally, a very special thanks to Joe Celko for providing the Foreword. Joe is an SQL expert, a colleague, and a good friend. We have a lot of respect for Joe's knowledge and expertise on the subject, and we're pleased to have his thoughts and comments at the beginning of our book.

Michael J. Hernandez
& John L. Viescas I want to give my most sincere thanks to my dear friend and colleague, John L. Viescas, for the opportunity of co-authoring this book with him. It was John who had the initial idea for this book, and over dinner one evening he talked me into writing it with him. John has been in the business a long time and is an established, respected author. It is my honor to share authorship with him on this work. Finally, I want to thank my wife Kendra. Once again, she has exhibited extreme patience while I toiled away at my writing. Her help has been invaluable, and yet again, I owe her a great debt. I would tell you that she is the love of my life, my closest confidant, and my best friend, but she abhors any sort of public displays of affection. (She refers to this as PDA.) So I'll just end with this: Well, Ked, we can resume a normal life again--until the next book!
Michael J. Hernandez
Bellevue, Washington
Gee, Mike! Are you trying to give me a big head or something? You're not such a slouch yourself. I may have talked you into doing the "next" Mere Mortals book on SQL, but you're the one who invented the now well-proven format and "voice" for this audience. It has been a fun and interesting task bringing the complex world of SQL (one of my favorite subjects) to such a wide audience. Thanks for letting me in on the project. Unlike yours, my wife, Suzanne, does not abhor PDAs. We both owe her a big hug--not just for putting up with me while I was "offline" doing this book but also for providing excellent behind-the-scenes editing and critical commentary of our material. She's no stranger when it comes to computers, but she's definitely a "mere mortal" when it comes to databases. She provided a perfect audience to test the draft chapters. I only had to make her one promise: I'm leaving my laptop home this spring on our next trip to Hawaii!
John I. Viescas
Austin, Texas 0201433362P04062001

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (August 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201433362
• ISBN-13: 978-0201433364
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Relational Databases

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SQL Queries for Mere Mortals, September 26, 2000

By 

"cmjreview" - See all my reviews

This review is from: SQL Queries for Mere Mortals(R): A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL (Paperback)

I have been using MS Access 2000 to develop database solutions for use in sales and marketing departments and needed to go to the next level and develop solutions based on SQL Server, so I was looking for a book to understand SQL queries better and thereby SQL Server. Knowing, that by writing your own SQL queries when working in Access you're able to develop a scaleable application that easily is transferred to SQL Server, the book helped me in this transition since all 5 sample databases included on the CD-ROM is available in both SQL Server 7.0 and MS Access 2000 files.

After an introduction to relational database theory and the SQL language in the first 3 chapters, you'll start learning about queries and each of the remaining 14 chapters includes exercises that will train your skills in writing SQL queries. Throughout the book the authors make use of diagrams to visualize the SQL queries, in the beginning they may seem difficult to understand but as you get used to them you will find yourself reading them faster and faster.

One of the things I learned the most from was the authors use of a 3-step method to write queries: A simple question in plain English to get the needed information from the data goes through a Translation, then a Clean Up, and finally you've got your SQL. With this method not only do you gain confidence but also an insight into the simple mathematical logic on which the queries are based.

To accompany this book and enhance the knowledge you gain from reading it I recommend the following titles: On Access 2000 I recommend John Viescas' "Running MS Access 2000" (ISBN 1572319348), which in my opinion is one of the best books on Access 2000. To strengthen your knowledge on relational database theory and design I recommend: "Inside Relational Databases" (ISBN 354076092X). To learn SQL Server 7.0 I recommend: "Professional SQL Server 7.0" (ISBN 1861002319).

Most people are able to develop a database that contain lots of data, but only few know how to transform these piles of data into useful information by using the powerful tools of SQL queries. With the knowledge from SQL Queries for Mere Mortals you will be well on your way to become one of the few.

63 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for someone new to using SQL Language., February 3, 2002

By 

cabby (Jacksonville, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SQL Queries for Mere Mortals(R): A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL (Paperback)

I've got five years experience in the IT industry, but had virtually no SQL experience when I started learning about Databases and the SQL Language. So, I was having a bit of difficulty following some of the other great texts on databases and database programming. I looked for tutorials online, and for tutorial type books. There aren't many. "SQL Queries for Mere Mortals," is an outstanding tutorial for beginners. Not only will you learn how to query databases, you gain a solid understanding of how to use the language to also begin learning how to program in SQL. But, this isn't an SQL programming book. The authors first explain concepts, show you examples and then provide hands-on exercises. Then, they provide problems that you attempt to solve, to test your comprehension, and ability to execute simple and complex (to me) queries. The answers are provided so you can compare your results. It's a confidence building process when you see just how well you're doing. The authors have done an exceptional job. I can only surmise that the few disappointed reviewers have extensive experience (or prejudice) and so are unsatisfied with this great book. I highly recommed this book if you're interested in learning the SQL language and how to query databases (or create views).

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Examples, Examples, and More Examples, September 28, 2000

By 

K. Hare (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SQL Queries for Mere Mortals(R): A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL (Paperback)

"SQL Queries for Mere Mortals" focuses on how to think about and create SQL queries to answer real-world questions. It covers the database design issues you need to understand in order to write SQL queries, but it doesn't try to be a design book. It doesn't talk about creating a database, inserting, updating, deleting data, or about performance tuning. In short, this book lives up to its title and focuses only on SQL queries.

This book is full of examples of how to take questions and turn them into SQL queries, plus explanations of why and when to use the various SQL capabilities. The examples focus on standard SQL. While your SQL implementation may support slightly different syntax, the examples provided in the book serve as a useful base for understanding the power and complexity of SQL.

If you are just learning SQL, or you have been using it for a while and need to enhance your SQL skills, you will find this book very useful.