Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days (4th Edition) [Paperback]

Ron Plew (Author), Ryan Stephens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0672324512 | ISBN-13: 978-0672324512 | Edition: 4

Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days, Fourth Edition provides a sold foundation in understanding the fundamentals of SQL (Structured Query Language). SQL is the query language used by relational databases such a Oracle, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft SQL Server. The new edition covers object-oriented programming with SQL, ODBC, JDBC, embedded SQL, accessing remote databases, and constructs. All new examples based on an open source database such as MySQL enhance this new edition by making the examples readily useable for readers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Fully updated and revised to include coverage of PL/SQL and Transact SQL. this easy-to-understand guide teaches users everything they need to know from database concepts and processes to implementing security and constructing and optimizing queries. - Q&A sections, step-by-step instructions, and review sections make learning easy and fun

- Shows how to create tables, modify data, incorporate security features, and tune the database for optimum performance

- Emphasizes common database concepts, including SQL functions and queries --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days, Fourth Edition provides a sold foundation in understanding the fundamentals of SQL (Structured Query Language). SQL is the query language used by relational databases such a Oracle, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft SQL Server. The new edition covers object-oriented programming with SQL, ODBC, JDBC, embedded SQL, accessing remote databases, and constructs. All new examples based on an open source database such as MySQL enhance this new edition by making the examples readily useable for readers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 4 edition (October 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672324512
• ISBN-13: 978-0672324512
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good stepping stone, January 18, 2000

By 

niki shoge (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

This book has provided me with a good background on using SQL. As a complete beginner I am pleased with the results and the clear syntax examples. After a few days I could create tables with my eyes closed and the explanations of the main types of SQL commands gave me a good grounding for further learning. For success with this book ignore the title and try not to push yourself to complete the book in 24hours - be patient and you will succeed! Good book but limited like all general SQL book by various SQL implementations on the market although tries to keep to ANSI-SQL standards! Good - definitely buy this book!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beginners beware of typos, March 17, 2005

By 

John Carter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days (4th Edition) (Paperback)

This is a good book for beginners but also gets you on the path to more advanced SQL programming. However, beginners beware: I think I found a programming typo in nearly every chapter of the book. The most glaring to me was in Day 14 (p. 340) when a column named "NEW_TOTAL" was referenced in view LATE_PAYMENT (created from table BILLS). BILLS has an AMOUNT field but no NEW_TOTAL field. I have over 20 years programming experience and I had to disregard this entire example. I fear beginners will miss these types of mistakes. If this is one of the better books available (as stated by a previous reviewer), then I'm not sure what book to buy. No typos should exist in a book designed to teach programming.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but sloppy., March 28, 2000

By 

TRBo (Minneapolis, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

This book is well planned and presented, but the error checking is almost nonexistent. The book is riddled with bugs, misspellings (in tables, data, and such) and confusing mistakes. Online or offline (disk or CD) support is nonexistent and the user is forced to enter all data from an appendix in the back by hand.

In one almost humorous example of this negligence, the appendix has you create a table called "parts" and populate it with human body part descriptions such as, "Kidney", "Adam's Apple", "Spine", and such. On day six, there is an example of a bike shop that combines the human parts table with a bike shop supplier's customer list. The resulting database is interesting to say the least.

I would strongly recommend against trying this book at all if you are not using Oracle. It claims to teach all brands of SQL, but only truly concentrates on Oracle's SQL+. The differences in other implementations are covered with phrases such as,

"The preceding syntax will generally work with any SQL engine, but you may find some slight variations."

If you're still new to the world of data in general, then pass on this book and search another. If you have experience programming, and can usually debug logic errors and spelling mistakes, then this book is otherwise a helpful tutorial. The text descriptions and comments are written on a personal level and are clear and concise. The lessons flow in a smooth logical fashion and the bonus days really are a nice bonus. Just be ready for a little frustration along the way.