Essential SQL on SQL Server 2008

This is overall excellent book for the student or individual new to databases in general to learn how to use SQL Server 2008. It begins with installation and start up instructions. It goes into SQL at a rudimentary - This is a SELECT statement - level and progresses from there to more complex operations including such things as views, JOINs, subqueries and so on. It's written at a quite basic level that the beginner should have no trouble. I find that I have two problems with the book. First, as you would expect the book has a sample database that is used to illustrate the various statements. But it doesn't appear that the sample database is available in machine readable form. Appendix 2 has a script to enable you to put in the database, but that requires that you type in 14 pages of stuff. Certainly they could find a website somewhere at either the publisher or their university to put it on line or they could include a CD with the book. Second, it's hard to know where to stop when you are doing an introductory book. But I feel that another chapter to cover more advanced SQL programming, such as the IF/THEN statement, looping, variables, PRINT, and the other things that make T\_SQL into a real language should be included. Perhaps the authors don't consider these to be essential and should wait for another book. This book, written for readers who have little or no previous experience with databases, SQL, or SQL Server, provides a very systematic approach to learning SQL (Structured Query Language) using SQL Server. Each chapter is written in a step-by-step manner and has examples that can be run using SQL Server. Using the sample tables and data provided, the reader of this book will be able to do all the examples to experience hands-on SQL programming in SQL Server. The text also presents a series of exercises at the end of the chapters to help readers gain proficiency with SQL. With this book you will learn: Beginning SQL commands how to retrieve and manipulate data using the simple SELECT statement. How to customize SQL Server 2008 s settings and about SQL Server 2008 s functions. How to create, alter, populate and delete tables. About joins, a common database mechanism for combining tables. Query development, the use of views and other derived structures. Simple set operations. About aggregate functions. How to write subqueries and correlated subqueries. How to create and use indexes and constraints. Transaction processing.

This book, written for readers who have little or no previous experience with databases, SQL, or SQL Server, provides a very systematic approach to learning SQL using SQL Server. Each chapter is written in a step-by-step manner and has examples that can be run using SQL Server. Using the sample tables and data provided, the reader of this book will be able to do all the examples to experience hands-on SQL programming in SQL Server. The book also presents a series of exercises at the end of the chapters to help readers gain proficiency with SQL. With this book you will learn beginning SQL commands - how to retrieve and manipulate data using the simple SELECT statement; how to customize SQL Server 2008’s settings and about SQL Server 2008’s functions; how to create, alter, populate and delete tables; about joins, a common database mechanism for combining tables; query development, the use of views and other derived structures; simple set operations; about aggregate functions; how to write subqueries and correlated subqueries; how to create and use indexes and constraints; transaction processing.

Start Microsoft SQL server 2008 Beginning SQL commands in SQL server Creating, populating, altering, and deleting tables Joins Functions Query development and derived structures Set operations Joins versus subqueries Aggregation and group by Correlated subqueries Indexes and constraints on tables. This book provides readers with a very systematic approach to learning SQL using SQL Server