SQL Queries for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL, 4th edition
Published by Addison-Wesley Professional (February 9, 2018) © 2018
John L. Viescas

Title overview

SQL Queries for Mere Mortals has earned worldwide praise as the clearest, simplest tutorial on writing effective queries with the latest SQL standards and database applications. Now, author John L. Viescas has updated this hands-on classic with even more advanced and valuable techniques.

Step by step, Viescas guides readers through creating reliable queries for virtually any current SQL-based database. He demystifies all aspects of SQL query writing, from simple data selection and filtering to joining multiple tables and modifying sets of data.

Building on the basics, Viescas shows how to solve challenging real-world problems, including applying multiple complex conditions on one table, performing sophisticated logical evaluations, and using unlinked tables to think “outside the box.”

In two brand-new chapters, students learn how to perform complex calculations on groups for sophisticated reporting, and how to partition data into windows for more flexible aggregation.

Students can practice all they need with downloadable sample databases for today’s versions of Microsoft Office Access, Microsoft SQL Server, and the open source MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.

 

Instructor Resouces include an Instructor Guide and PowerPoint slides.

  • The only SQL book students will ever need
  • Fully updated for the latest databases and more advanced techniques
  • One of the few books that focuses on generic SQL, and not one particular vendor's version of SQL
  • Updated with hundreds of new examples compliant with the latest databases, including MySQL
  • Written in a clear, jargon-free, easy-to-understand style 

Note: All chapters updated to the latest SQL standard, Access 2016, MySQL Community Edition 5.7.18, and SQL Server 2016.

--An updated Introduction that reflects any new versions of the SQL standard.

--All sample databases upgraded to the latest editions of Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL, with date-related data updated to the 2017-2018 timeframe.

--Revised figures and/or results tables that reflect the revised data and new platforms.

--All updated errata included.

--New chapter covering complex problems related to Window Functions, Row Number, Rank, and Moving Aggregate.  This content would only involve the SQL Server sample databases.

Table of contents

  • Part I: Relational Databases and SQL
  • Chapter 1: What Is Relational?
  • Chapter 2: Ensuring Your Database Structure Is Sound
  • Chapter 3: A Concise History of SQL
  • Part II: SQL Basics
  • Chapter 4: Creating a Simple Query
  • Chapter 5: Getting More Than Simple Columns
  • Chapter 6: Filtering Your Data
  • Part III: Working with Multiple Tables
  • Chapter 7: Thinking in Sets
  • Chapter 8: INNER JOINs
  • Chapter 9: OUTER JOINs
  • Chapter 10: UNIONs
  • Chapter 11: Subqueries
  • Part IV: Summarizing and Grouping Data
  • Chapter 12: Simple Totals
  • Chapter 13: Grouping Data
  • Chapter 14: Filtering Grouped Data
  • Part V: Modifying Sets of Data
  • Chapter 15: Updating Sets of Data
  • Chapter 16: Inserting Sets of Data
  • Chapter 17: Deleting Sets of Data
  • PART VI Introduction to Solving Tough Problems
  • Chapter 18 “NOT” And “AND” Problems
  • Chapter 19 Condition Testing
  • Chapter 20 Using Unlinked Data and “Driver” Tables
  • Chapter 21 Performing Complex Calculations on Groups
  • Chapter 22: More SQL Server Complex Problems to Solve
  • APPENDICES
  • Appendix A: SQL Standard Diagrams
  • Appendix B: Schema for the Sample Databases
  • Appendix C: Date and Time Functions
  • Appendix D: Suggested Reading

 

Author bios

John L. Viescas is an independent database consultant with more than 50 years of experience. He began his career as a systems analyst, designing large database applications for IBM mainframe systems. He spent 6 years at Applied Data Research in Dallas, Texas, where he directed a staff of more than 30 people and was responsible for research, product development, and customer support of database products for IBM mainframe computers. While working at Applied Data Research, John completed a degree in business finance at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating cum laude.

John joined Tandem Computers, Inc., in 1988, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of database marketing programs in Tandem’s U.S. Western Sales region. He developed and delivered technical seminars on Tandem’s relational database management system, NonStop SQL. John wrote his first book, A Quick Reference Guide to SQL (Microsoft Press, 1989), as a research project to document the similarities in the syntax among the ANSI-86 SQL standard, IBM’s DB2, Microsoft’s SQL Server, Oracle Corporation’s Oracle, and Tandem’s NonStop SQL. He wrote the first edition of Running Microsoft Access (Microsoft Press, 1992) while on sabbatical from Tandem. He has since written four editions of Running, three editions of Microsoft Office Access Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2003, 2007, and 2010–the successor to the Running series), Building Microsoft Access Applications (Microsoft Press, 2005), and Effective SQL (Addison-Wesley, 2017).

John formed his own company in 1993. He provides information systems management consulting for a variety of small to large businesses around the world, with a specialty in the Microsoft Access and SQL Server database management products. He maintains offices in Nashua, New Hampshire, and Paris, France. He was recognized as a “Most Valuable Professional” (MVP) from 1993 to 2015 by Microsoft Product Support Services for his assistance with technical questions on public support forums. He set a landmark 20 consecutive years as an MVP in 2013.
You can visit John’s Web site at www.viescas.com.

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