relational databases

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).

"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.

After reading this book I finally understood table relationships and how to retrieve the information I wanted from multiple tables at once. I have never had queries put across in such a clear simple manner. I had been working with ASP / SQL queries for about a year and was just muddling through with sub-tables and linking. I was creating databases with redundant information just so I didn't have to link tables. This book allowed me to streamline my database and improve the speed and simplicity of my ASP pages. This book focuses on select queries almost exclusively, but this is I think a strong point not a weakness, since most of the time you are pulling information out not inserting or updating. Works very well with it's companion book Database design for mere mortals