[GLLUG] Learning SQL

[Caleb Cushing]

Barnes & Noble has it listed as $45 member price, and I'm a member ;-) (if
anyone wants to use my discount sometime just ask), that doesn't seem bad
considering I have to pay $100+ for crappy text books I don't want or need,
and when they are computer books the examples only work 50% of the time and
that's probably an optimistic evaluation. So a really good $45 dollar book
seems like a deal to me. Books are expensive but often well worth the price
I pay. Like right now I'm following LPI tutorials in IBM developerworks and
reading LPI Linux certification in a nutshell. The compliment each other
well although I have had some problems with some examples :-( . I hate text
streams and filters... I've yet to find a really good use for them on my
system. sort and uniq are the only ones I can forsee a use for, maybe I just
need more than a single user system to see it.

On 3/27/06, Frank Dolinar <frank.dolinar at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Hi, everyone,
>     I'm going to add my voice to recommending SQL for Smarties.
>     I've been reading Joe Celko's columns since I first encountered them,
> years ago in DBMS magaxine (now folded into Intelligent Enterprise).
>     SQL for Smarties will help you learn everything you need to know about
> SQL, what it is, where it came from, how it works, and eventually how to
> construct queries that do exactly what you need them to do.  However, be
> advised.  The book is not cheap.  Nor is it an easy to read pamphlet that
> promises to teach you everything you ever needed to know about SQL in 20
> minutes.  It's going to take work.  But it will be worth it.
>     I agree with Clay.  I've had the book for years and still find myself
> looking things up regularly.  I've been working with SQL (principally SQL
> Server, but also Sybase, and some MySQL) for about 5 years.  About once a
> month I encounter a problem or a bit of someone else's code that shows me
> something new about SQL.  And when I look it up in the book to understand
> what's going on, the answers have (so far) always been there.
>     Worse, Mr. Celko has recently written a revised version of the book
> which is about 50% thicker and which I'm probably going to buy despite its
> cost.
>     He's probably the next best thing to reading Dr. Codd's original
> papers on relational databases in terms of the quality, accuracy, and depth
> of the content -- and he's a hell of a lot easier to understand.
>
> -- Frank
>
>
>
> Clay Dowling wrote:
>
> Andy Lee said:
>
>  I concur with the others that books are not really necessary for learning
> SQL, but if you need a book, SQL for Smarties is the best learn SQL from
> scratch book I've seen. That said, start with googling SQL tutorials to
> see how it looks. You'll likely be amazed at how simple SQL is, at least
> to get off the ground with what most people do.
>
>  SQL for Smarties is indeed an excellent investment, whether you're just
> learning SQL or you've been using it for years but want to improve your
> capabilities.  I started using databases in 1996 and I still refer to this
> book.  I discusses how to handle a lot of complex things that aren't
> immediately obvious unless you're an absolute guru.  I'm not, so this book
> saves me.
>
> Clay
>
>
>
> *================================================================*
> *  Frank Dolinar                       frank.dolinar at comcast.net *
> *  PO Box 886                                       517.351.1899 *
> *  East Lansing, MI 48826-0886                                   *
> *----------------------------------------------------------------*
> * Dream big, aim high, & learn everything you can along the way. *
> *================================================================*
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> linux-user mailing list
> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/public/linux-user/attachments/20060327/4f231e66/attachment-0001.html