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
    • SQL Definition and History
    • SQL Sessions
    • Types of SQL Commands
    • An Introduction to the Database Used in This Book
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • 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
  • 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 does the acronym SQL stand for?

2. What are the six main categories of SQL commands?

3. What are the four transactional control commands?

4. What is the main difference between client/server and Web technologies as they related to database access?

5. If a field is defined as NULL, does that mean that something has to be entered into that field?

Exercises

1. Identify the categories in which the following SQL commands fall:

   CREATE TABLE 
   DELETE
   SELECT
   INSERT
   ALTER TABLE
   UPDATE
   

2. Study the following tables and pick out the column that would be a good candidate for the primary key:

   EMPLOYEE_TBL	INVENTORY_TBL	EQUIPMENT_TBL
   name	item	model
   phone	description	year
   start date	quantity	serial number
   address	item number	equipment number
   employee number	location	assigned to

3. Refer to Appendix B,"Using MySQL for Exercises." Download and install MySQL on your computer to prepare for hands-on exercises in the following hours of instruction.

Share This