Hey, I loved this book! I am a 15 year veteran developer who hasn't had the need since graduate school to build very complex queries since I always had a DBA or such on my team to do the work. So, my real-life experience of queries amounted to little more than "SELECT colname FROM tablename WHERE condition".

Recently, though, while building a sophisticated report interface to an application, I had the opportunity and the need to do more than simple selects, so I went looking for a book and found this one which seemed precisely suited for my needs.

A newbie reviewer of this book complained that it didn't teach him about INSERT, UPDATE, and CREATE TABLE. Well, a chisel is not a hammer, but just as they don't look even similar to each other, you would have thought that the title of this book would have given neophyte a clue, but I guess not.

This book is absolutely great, and even fun to read! Really, I read it over my vacation and had a wonderful time. It clearly and logically takes you through the whole query structure step by step with working exercises that use the supplied tables and data. It teaches you standard SQL, and then mentions how it maps to proprietary variations found in the major RDBMS's.

I don't know how this book would work for a newbie, but if you've written enough simple queries and wanted to do more, this book just lays it all out for you. I now know how to improve the queries behind dozens of the reports in my current project, and now I can design incredibly sophisticated dashboards using BIRT for BAM and OLAP purposes. I've always wanted to do dashboards with speedometer widgets, and now I know how to get the information for them.

Really, although I am still not very experienced, I have total confidence that I can now tackle the most complex queries my current and planned projects will ever require. This book empowered me in ways that few of the literally hundreds of CS books that I have read have ever even approached.

I enjoyed this book as well as learned alot from it. I wouldn't say it's for a complete beginner but for those who have played with access or another database program. it's a wonderful resource to learn the ins and outs as well as some "theory" of queries. I will recommond this for others to read and will be getting the companion book.. databases for mere mortals.

great read
OHTechie

[A review of the Second Edition 2007, the review being written on 27 Oct 2007.]

From the ground up, the authors teach SQL. Not just the syntax, but more broadly, how to design a set of tables that will describe your data, and then how create and populate these tables.

If you already know some SQL, you may be curious as to which version is described. The up to date nature of this 2007 Edition means that you're getting a good current description. Though in practise, given the slow pace of the SQL standards committees, a pragmatic answer is that the precise latest version known to the book really doesn't matter. The SQL syntax and methods given here have mostly been true (stable) for several years. So even if you are running a SQL implementation installed a few years ago, the book is still useful.

Each chapter has several examples. But maybe to a beginner, the most useful chapters are those on inner and outer joins. Certainly, there are many other SQL books that talk about these. But the examples given in these chapters are unusually lengthy and detailed. The number of items (lines) in the tables are few. But the complexity of the questions and the ensuing SQL queries that use these joins is high. Which could be closer to real applications and more helpful than books that simply put out trivial examples.

The book was brand new. Just as described. Very fast shipping too.

I was excited to get this book until going through 450+ pages, I realized it was more of a beginners book than serious data manipulation.

For those reviewers who thought this book un-helpful, you failed to understand its purpose. The goal is to help you write better queries and is not a book on SQL in terms of creating a new database. Instead of going by the book's rating, try reading the book's description! Being able to read is assumed by the author...

I bought this book based on its high popularity and ranking. I feel that the ranking is not true of this books potential. I have developed an Access database, but I am not a db developer. I wanted a a basic book which would show me examples of update, insert, delete queries etc. This book does not even mention about basic queries like delete, insert, update leave alone make table etc. Whats the point of a book about "Queries" if you mention only about select querries. I would not recommend this book at all.

While this text may be fine for writing queries for the retrieval of data, it was useless for my task of populating an empty database from a variety of flat files.

I had been trying to extract information from our workplace databases for several years, and it was a frustrating experience. This book put it all together for me, and I finally understand the complexities. I had tried to learn from many other books, but their focus was on point and click, creating databases, maintaining databases, and creating forms. SQL Queries for Mere Mortals focuses exclusively on what I need to accomplish -- extracting information from existing databases. I use it as a reference often. Now, I can obtain answers to complex questions with a single SQL statement, instead of numerous queries of queries of queries.

If you're new to the SQL language, GET THIS BOOK! It is very readable and covers SQL fundamentals very well. Lots of easy-to-understand examples.

The book is very easy to read. It comes with a CD containing five great databases with examples to work. Solutions are supplied in the database, too. This is a great feature for checking if one's answers are correct or helping out on more difficult problems one may not be able to readily solve.

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

First, I have to say that I liked this book very much. It is clear and to the point. The examples and excercises are also extremely helpful. I particularly like the fact that they include several very different sorts of databases on the attached CD ROM.

There are two things that keep me from giving it the full five stars. The first problem is that the autthors introduce a method for converting requests in english into SQL queries that is next to useless. It starts with a request for data (in english) and proceeds to a "translation" into something like SQL. Finally you are supposed to convert the translation into valid SQL by "cleaning it up" (i.e. deleting extraneous words). However, there is no explanation of how you get from the request to the "translation". Luckily this method is not necessary to follow the otherwise well thought out explanations in the book.

The second problem is that the excercises in the book don't work out the way they are supposed to (i.e. the number of rows returned by the query is not always the number of rows they tell you it is supposed to return). This is because the excercise databases are slightly different than the solution databases. This caused me plenty of headaches trying to debug my SQL until I discovered the problem.

Even with these problems, this is the best beginners book on the subject I've yet come across.

This book is well written, however, it is out of date. We have had SQL 2000 installed for a couple of years now, and I was hoping to use this book to help me along. While it is good at communicating ideas, it falls down on syntax since it's out of date.

This books is about to change my life. Call me dumb, but after buying 3 other books, I was still at loss how to just sit down and find the things I was looking for in the database. This is the book that opened my eyes. If you're a beginner, start with this book and you'll save yourself money, time, and your boss asking every 5 minutes, why are you taking so long???

Over the years I have turned to this book often, either for help with creating a query, or for help troubleshooting one. The book is well organized and clearly written. The standard diagram in the appendix has even proved to be useful on many occasions. The only thing I would have liked to see added to the book, would be the authors presentation of further SQL commands, such as INSERT, UPDATE, etc. But then, the title does make it clear this book is specifically for SQL queries.

This is a concise effort. Many programmers are thrown into SQL without ever having taken the time to learn the basics. And many are too proud to admit it :)

This is an invaluable resource for programmers who need to come up to speed with SQL to expand their SQL capabilities within their own programming environment. It is indeed software independant - so the knowledge gained goes with you anywhere.

I found 2 immediate benefits:

1. Spend less time debugging your own or other people's SQL statements

2. Let your database do more of the work (less coding in your own language) by learning how to correctly structure compound and complex SQL statements.

Doesn't take long to read it. Time well spent.

I'm a professional SW engineer of several years, and I program in several languages, Java, C, C++. I used to do embedded work until a couple years ago, but yecently I had to start working with databases and applications. This book was excellent at showing me the construction of SQL queries. It's not meant to be one of those all-inclusive 1,000 page monsters which document every configuration of a database, or how database internals work. This is strictly queries, and had plenty of detail for that. I would combine my purchase of this book with another book specific to the database you may need to work with if you have to worry about doing more than using the database (load balancing, query poooling, etc. are not subjects really covered here).

Our company switched to and extensively uses SQL. In an effort to educate the entire I.T. staff on the effective use of SQL, we purchased Microsoft Office Curriculum (to assess whether it fit our needs), searched book stores, and checked with Universities (online and local) for acceptable SQL curriculum. Our search was disappointing until we found this book. We enhanced this book with company-specific examples and created our own course using this book as the main text. We employed an instructor from a local university to conduct the course and have it certified by the state dept of education. It provides good information about good practices using SQL.

i am a java programmer. I found this book sitting around on the shelf at work, and i tried to read it, but it was really bad. I needed a reference and this book did not have solutions to the problems I had. Later i tried to read it as a tutorial, but it failed there too. i said "this book sucks!" and someone saw what book i was reading and laughed at me. Then all the other programmers saw me reading it and laughed, too. Aparently the book belonged to someone who quit the company and wanted nothing further to do with it, and it's been usless and confusing to everyone since -- and everyone discovers this fact sooner or later. everyone one day finds it and goes "this book sucks!" and everyone else laughs to see yet another person discover The Useless and Confusing Book! After they were done laughing at me a couple of them threw their sql books on my desk, and those were very helpful. get some generic sql reference for the commands and a basic tutorial to understand the language and you will be all set for life. even the title -- "for mere mortals" -- what the heck does the mean? you need to be a god to write sql, and here is un-godly sql? that makes no sense! what's the use of "mere mortal" sql then? i'm sure if you got nothing else this book can work but there are many better ones around. look around.
if you're too lazy to look around, get an O'Riley book! those are usually good -- I mean O'Riley books are far better than average -- but there always are books much better than O'Riley.

I'm new to SQL and don't have any other SQL books, but I found this book to be pretty helpful. The authors style is easy to read for the most part, but at times he gets a little long winded and kind of glosses over important technical points in an attempt to give you the broad picture. Nevertheless, it remains pretty readable overall. Personally, I found there to be a steep difference in the learning curve between the first and second halves of the book. The first 7 chapters are basically skimable material and I think the book would benefit from dedicating more pages to chapters 8 through 14 where most of the real meat is (joins, subqueries, grouping, etc.). Between the sample statements and the problems in the back of the book, there are lots of good examples, and I do feel like a learned a lot of SQL.

The authors offer simple explantions to complex concepts. They break it down nicely. I never though I could understand heavily nested querries and get a real handle on what is going on. I have a much more solid understanding of sql and am confident that I can get the info I need from my company's databases.

Expect to spend a little time on some examples in order to allow concepts to sink in. I love this book.

I was quite new to SQL but had done some reading on data modelling when I got this book about 18 months ago. I initially read parts of the book and have mostly used is as a reference reading relevant material for solving the problem at hand.

The text is well written and so far I have always found clear understandable explanations of whatever I need to known. The index as well as the SQL syntax diagrams in the appendix are excellent.

I am working with PostgreSQL and the best thing about this book is that so far every example and SQL construct I have learned from the book has worked well with PostgreSQL. (So - five stars to PostgreSQL too :)

This book did not have enough specific examples. Someone could describe a platypus to you(if you've never seen one), or they could show you a picture. Good examples are like pictures, they give a rapid insight into the material. ...

My previous experience with a relational database was with DBASE III back in the 80's, so SQL queries were a whole new field. But this book explained all -- succinctly and in a style that shows you how to think through the problem to arrive at the solution. The examples and samples were superb! Highly recommended.

This is my second SQL book, and I selected it because it provides a lot of examples to work through. Generally it is well written, and I have referred to it often. This could be an outstanding book for novices IF the authors would provide simple examples and problems when they introduce a new topic. Too often however, they rush to include previous concepts which can inhibit comprehension of the new topic and present unnecessarily complex examples. I have had to consult other SQL books and resources to gain a clearer understanding of some of these topics.

Also, I have found several instances in the exercises wherein the solution code appears to be incorrect - it does not generate the correct result set, such as producing 0 rows instead of 2, etc.

Good book but should point out the differences with Access, SQL Server, Oracle, DB2 and other database servers. This book is about the SQL standard, which is good, but a lot of things can't be used in real life. Overall, a very good book though!

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).

The authors seem to believe that the simplest concepts need to be illustrated with overly complex diagrams and hugely complex SQL statements. The concepts contained in this book are not complex, although they are portrayed as such. If you want a fantastic introduction to SQL, get Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, 2nd ed. by Ben Forta (ISBN 0672321289).

After reading a few pages of the book, I was really disappointed. This book is too easy. If you have ever written any sql statement, you probably need not this book.
But if you don't know anything about sql, it explains sql very easy way with many similar examples. :-)

I sat down with this book as I tried to bring myself up to speed on working with database design and operation. After reading the "companion" Database Design for Mere Mortals, I tackled SQL Queries for Mere Mortals. While some of the beginning was redundant, it popped me into buiding SQL queries with a ton of examples and hands on exercises. Slowly building your knowledge and allowing you to see how the pieces can stand alone or interlock in the syntax, you are given more and more specific examples to help understand the concept.

Is it exhaustive? No. Is it a quick reference? Not really. What it is though is a good reference piece when I'm trying to remember how do write sytnax for a specific query, showing me a real life example, instead of a list of just possible uses. Many references simply give you the generic terms built into one example statement like "Outer Join Table1, Table2 on Field1 [Order by]...." Instead, this book shows you using databases you are introduced to so you see the syntax in action. Since I don't use SQL every day, it's nice to go here to jump start my brain after some time also. A great book for someone getting into database queries, or who works with them occasionally and needs a guide.

I would say it is one of the best tech books I have read. I wanted to learn how to write SQL queries and now I know how to do it. Very easy to read and understand. It has so many hands on exercises that it makes so easy to learn it. I like this idea of hands on practice a lot! Wish all the books would follow this type of teaching. By doing exercises you memorize the syntax of queries like one, two, three. By buying this book I saved money on taking a class with a teacher. With this book you are good on your own. The negative part is CD. You MUST read the Readme file how to install it!!! Because you have to copy files on you hard drive before you can use it. Make sure you have Access 2000 as well!!! If you will ignore it - you are in trouble!!! For those who knows how to write queries in SQL it may not be a good book, will be too simple for you guys! But if you are totaly new - buy it, it's good!

This book has helped me to finally understand how to get information back out of my databases. The Comp. Sci. program I'm in teaches how to build a relational database, but then just glosses over SQL Queries. I now have a much better understanding of subqueries, joins, and SQL in general. After finishing this book, I feel I can retrieve any information I need to get with little trouble.

If starting out or know the basics of Select whatever from table, this book is for you. It explains SQL in a way you can understand, using real databases you would use.

I did learn the hard way from a MS-SQL 7 book with queries, and the information in here seems redundant to what I already know through about 1 year of SQL queries through ASP.

I would like to see a book that had more advanced problems other than 150 pages of explaining JOIN statements, while providing examples someone might use on a daily basis. ...

I develop programs with Microsoft Access 97 & 2000, as part of of the development process I create many queries using the QBE grid, unfortunaltely I found that I was often very restricted and was not able to get the query to function and produce the results I wanted, I was not well versed in SQL, then I discovered SQL Queries for Mere Mortals. I have not finished the book yet but it has proved an invaluable tool. By applying some of the techniques that I learned in just the first half of the book I was able to use the information to edit my Access Queries and produce the results I wanted. Since then I have taken some SQL classes with more planed in the future, I also just purchased SQL 2000 Server Administrators Kit and Data Mininng. I thank the authors of this book for getting me started. This is an excelent place to get your feet wet and wet your appetite for more SQL (2 thumbs up!!)