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
    • What Are Database Objects?
    • What Is a Schema?
    • A Table: The Primary Storage for Data
    • Integrity Constraints
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • 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. <tt>CREATE TABLE</tt> Statements for Book Examples
  • Appendix E. <tt>INSERT</tt> Statements for Data in Book Examples
  • Appendix F. Glossary
  • Appendix G. Bonus Exercises

Summary

You have learned a little about database objects in general, but have specifically learned about the table. The table is the simplest form of data storage in a relational database. Tables contain groups of logical information, such as employee, customer, or product information. A table is composed of various columns, with each column having attributes; those attributes mainly consist of data types and constraints, such as NOT NULL values, primary keys, foreign keys, and unique values.

You learned the CREATE TABLE command and options, such as storage parameters, that may be available with this command. You have also learned how to modify the structure of existing tables using the ALTER TABLE command. Although the process of managing database tables may not be the most basic process in SQL, it is our philosophy that if you first learn the structure and nature of tables, you more easily grasp the concept of accessing the tables, whether through data manipulation operations or database queries. In later hours, you learn about the management of other objects in SQL, such as indexes on tables and views.

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