Kline Kevin E. - SQL in a nutshell: [a desktop quick reference ; covers MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL server]

Since its first incarnation in the 1970s, the Structured Query Language (SQL) has been developed hand in hand with the information boom, and as a result, it is the most widely used database manipulation language in business and industry. A number of different software companies and program developers, including those in the open source movement (http://www.opensource.org), have concurrently developed their own SQL dialects in response to specific professional needs. All the while, standards bodies have developed a growing list of common features.

SQL in a Nutshell , Third Edition, describes the latest ANSI standard, SQL2003 (SQL3) version of each SQL command, and then documents each platform's implementation of that command. In this book, you will find a concise explanation of the relational database management system (RDBMS) model, a clear-cut explanation of foundational RDBMS concepts, and thorough coverage of SQL syntax and commands.

Most importantly, at least if you're a programmer or developer, SQL in a Nutshell , Third Edition, provides a concise guide both to the most popular commercial database packages on the market (Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle). It is also the guide for two of the best-known open source database products (MySQL and PostgreSQL). The attention this book pays to open source SQL platforms recognizes the growing importance of the open source movement within the computing community.

The SQL syntax covered in this book includes:

The primary source of information for relational databases is the documentation and help files provided by the vendors themselves. While each vendor's documentation is an indispensable resource that most database programmers and database administrators turn to first, this documentation has a number of limitations:

In other words, the documentation included with a vendor's database provides an exhaustive explanation of every aspect of that particular vendor's platform. This is only natural; after all, help texts are geared toward delivering the main facts about a product. They'll tell you a command's specific syntax (and all its obscure variants) and, in general terms, how to implement it. However, if you move between RDBMSs and you need to be productive very quickly, you will rarely use those obscure command variations; instead, you'll utilize the capabilities most common in real-life situations.

This book begins where the vendor documentation ends by distilling the experiences of professional database administrators and developers who have used these SQL variants day in and day out to support complex enterprise applications. It offers you the benefit of their experience in a compact and easily usable format. Whether SQL is new to you or you have been using SQL since its earliest days, there are always new tips and techniques to learn. And when you're moving between different implementations, it's always important to find out about the issues that can bite you if you're not careful and informed.