Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 24 Hours

By Ron Plew and Ryan Stephens

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Authors
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: A SQL Concepts Overview
  • Hour 1. Welcome to the World of SQL
  • Part II: Building Your Database
  • Hour 2. Defining Data Structures
  • Hour 3. Managing Database Objects
  • Hour 4. The Normalization Process
  • Hour 5. Manipulating Data
  • Hour 6. Managing Database Transactions
  • Part III: Getting Effective Results from Queries
  • Hour 7. Introduction to the Database Query
  • Hour 8. Using Operators to Categorize Data
  • Hour 9. Summarizing Data Results from a Query
  • Hour 10. Sorting and Grouping Data
  • Hour 11. Restructuring the Appearance of Data
  • Hour 12. Understanding Dates and Times
  • Part IV: Building Sophisticated Database Queries
  • Hour 13. Joining Tables in Queries
  • Hour 14. Using Subqueries to Define Unknown Data
  • Hour 15. Combining Multiple Queries into One
  • Part V: SQL Performance Tuning
  • Hour 16. Using Indexes to Improve Performance
    • What Is an Index?
    • How Do Indexes Work?
    • The CREATE INDEX Command
    • Types of Indexes
    • When Should Indexes Be Considered?
    • When Should Indexes Be Avoided?
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 17. Improving Database Performance
  • Part VI: Using SQL to Manage Users and Security
  • Hour 18. Managing Database Users
  • Hour 19. Managing Database Security
  • Part VII: Summarized Data Structures
  • Hour 20. Creating and Using Views and Synonyms
  • Hour 21. Working with the System Catalog
  • Part VIII: Applying SQL Fundamentals in Today's World
  • Hour 22. Advanced SQL Topics
  • Hour 23. Extending SQL to the Enterprise, the Internet, and the Intranet
  • Hour 24. Extensions to Standard SQL
  • Part IX: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Common SQL Commands
  • Appendix B. Using MySQL for Exercises
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes and Exercises
  • Appendix D. CREATE TABLE Statements for Book Examples
  • Appendix E. INSERT Statements for Data in Book Examples
  • Appendix F. Glossary
  • Appendix G. Bonus Exercises

Workshop

The following workshop is composed of a series of quiz questions and practical exercises. The quiz questions are designed to test your overall understanding of the current material. The practical exercises are intended to afford you the opportunity to apply the concepts discussed during the current hour, as well as build upon the knowledge acquired in previous hours of study. Please take time to complete the quiz questions and exercises before continuing. Refer to Appendix C,"Answers to Quizzes and Exercises," for answers.

Quiz

1. What are some major disadvantages of using indexes?

2. Why is the order of columns in a composite important?

3. Should a column with a large percentage of NULLs be indexed?

4. Is the main purpose of an index to stop duplicate values in a table?

5. True or false: The main reason for a composite index is for aggregate function usage in an index.

Exercises

1. For the following situations, decide whether an index should be used and, if so, what type of index should be used.

   1. Several columns, but a rather small table
   2. Medium-sized table, no duplicates should be allowed
   3. Several columns, very large table, several columns used as filters in the WHERE clause
   4. Large table, many columns, a lot of data manipulation

2. Type the following code into the mysql> prompt to create an index on the EMPLOYEE_PAY_TBL table on the POSITION column:

   CREATE INDEX EP_POSITION ON EMPLOYEE_PAY_TBL (POSITION); 
   

3. Study the tables used in this book. What are some good candidates for indexed columns based on how a user might search for data?

4. Create a multi-column index on the ORDERS_TBL table. Include the following columns: CUST_ID, PROD_ID, and ORD_DATE.

5. Create some additional indexes on your tables as desired.

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