Simply SQL is a practical step-by-step guide to writing SQL. You’ll learn how to make the most of your data using best-practice SQL code. Rather than bore you with theory, it focuses on the practical use of SQL with common databases and uses plenty of diagrams, easy-to-read text, and examples to help make learning SQL easy and fun.
SQL is the language used by all major database systems today. SQL has been around for about 30 years, but is enjoying a real renaissance in the 21st century, thanks to the tremendous success of database-driven web sites.
Whether your web site is written in PHP, ASP, Perl, ColdFusion, or any other programming language, and no matter which database system you want to use—MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, DB2, Oracle, or any of the others—one fact is almost certain: if you want to have database-driven content, you’ll need to use SQL.
SQL is a simple, high-level language with tremendous power. You can perform tasks with a few lines of SQL that would take pages and pages of intricate coding to accomplish in a programming language.
Who Should Read This Book?
If you’re a web designer or developer looking for guidance in learning SQL for your web projects, this book is for you.
In the early days of the Web, everyone was a web developer. Nowadays, the field has matured to the point where many different disciplines exist. Two broad categories emerged:
- Web designers are responsible for what web site visitors see. This includes the design, graphics, and layout of the site. It also includes designing the functionality of the site, how it works, with considerations for the usability of site features.
If you’re a web designer, you can benefit from learning SQL—at least at a rudimentary level—because it will help you design better user interactions. Understanding how SQL works means that you can make life simpler for the developers who will im plement your designs: by ensuring that the web site is organized in a way that not only serves the web site visitor, but also allows for simple SQL and good database design. We’ll cover both SQL and database design in this book.
Web developers are the primary audience for the book. Using several simple web application examples, we’ll explore all aspects of SQL and database design that are required by web developers to develop efficient and effective web pages. The sample applications in this book really are quite simple, and you may already be familiar with one or more of them, just by using them on the Web.
Of course, database use goes beyond dynamic web sites. For example, databases are also used in desktop and network applications. So even if you’re working with a non-web-related application, the chances are good that you’re still working with a database that uses SQL. The SQL you learn in this book can be applied in all situations where a database is used.
Who Is the Author?
Rudy Limeback is an SQL Consultant living in Toronto, Canada. His SQL experience spans 20+ years, and includes working with DB2, SQL Server, Access, Oracle, and MySQL. He is an avid participant in discussion forums, primarily at SitePoint. His two web sites are http://r937.com/ and http://rudy.ca/.
This book comprises the following chapters. In the first eight chapters, we’ll learn about SQL, the language, its various statements and clauses, and how to use SQL to store and retrieve database data. These chapters are organized to provide first an introduction to the SQL language, then an overview of the SELECT statement, followed by an examination of each of the SELECT statement’s clauses. In the last three chapters, we’ll learn how to design databases effectively, taking into consideration column data types, table relationships, primary and foreign keys, and so on.
Why this separation? Why do we postpone learning about designing tables until well after the SELECT statement has been thoroughly dissected? Because effective database design requires an understanding of how SQL works. You must walk before you can run. If you’re new to SQL, you’ll want to focus on learning SQL first, rather than be prematurely sidetracked on the whys and wherefores of database design issues.
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