SQL in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference

by Kevin Kline, Regina Obe, Leo Hsu

Overview

For programmers, analysts, and database administrators, this Nutshell guide is the essential reference for the SQL language used in today's most popular database products. This new fourth edition clearly documents SQL commands according to the latest ANSI/ISO standard and details how those commands are implemented in Microsoft SQL Server 2019 and Oracle 19c, as well as in the MySQL 8, MariaDB 10.5, and PostgreSQL 14 open source database products.

You'll also get a concise overview of the relational database management system (RDBMS) model and a clear-cut explanation of foundational RDBMS concepts—all packed into a succinct, comprehensive, and easy-to-use format.

Sections include:

• Background on the relational database model, including current and previous SQL standards
• Fundamental concepts necessary for understanding relational databases and SQL commands
• An alphabetical command reference to SQL statements, according to the SQL:2016 ANSI standard
• The implementation of each command by MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server
• An alphabetical reference of the ANSI SQL:2016 functions and constructs as well as the vendor implementations
• Platform-specific functions unique to each implementation

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492088868
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/26/2022
Edition description:	4th ed.
Pages:	838
Sales rank:	1,076,650
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Kevin Kline is a noted database expert and software industry veteran. A Microsoft SQL Server MVP since 2004, Kevin is a founder and former president of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS.org) and the author of many popular IT books. Kevin is also a top-rated speaker at industry trade shows worldwide.

Regina Obe is co-principal of Paragon Corporation (paragoncorporation.com), a database consulting company based in Boston. She has close to 30 years of professional experience in various programming languages and database systems, with special focus on PostgreSQL and PostGIS spatial database extension for PostgreSQL. She is a member of the PostGIS steering committee and development team. She is a coauthor of several database books with her husband, Leo Hsu.

Leo Hsu is co-principal of Paragon Corporation, a database consulting company based in Boston. He has over 25 years of professional experience developing and thinking about databases for organizations large and small. He also holds a lectureship at Tufts University, teaching SQL to graduate level students. He has coauthored several database books with his wife Regina Obe.

Table of Contents

Preface v

1 SQL History and Implementations 1

The Relational Model and ANSI SQL 2

History of the SQL Standard 11

SQL Dialects 16

NoSQL 17

2 Foundational Concepts 19

Database Platforms Described in This Book 19

Categories of Syntax 20

SQL and Platform-Specific Data Types 35

Constraints 60

3 Structuring Your Data 69

How to Use This Chapter 69

SQL Platform Support 70

SQL Command Reference 72

4 Reading Your Data 249

How to Use This Chapter 249

SQL Platform Support 250

SQL Command Reference 251

5 Manipulating Your Data 359

How to Use This Chapter 359

SQL Platform Support 360

SQL Command Reference 361

6 Securing Your Data 439

How to Use This Chapter 439

SQL Platform Support 440

SQL Command Reference 441

7 SQL Built-in Functions 503

How to Use This Chapter 504

Types of Functions 504

SQL Functions 505

Platform-Specific Extensions 538

8 SQL Built-in Aggregate and Window Functions 593

How to Use This Chapter 593

SQL Aggregate Functions 594

Complementary Functions 623

SQL Window Functions 625

Platform-Specific Extensions 640

9 Storing Logic in the Database 647

How to Use This Chapter 647

SQL Platform Support 648

SQL Command Reference 650

10 Flexible and Schemaless 745

Why JSON? 747

JSON Support 749

Why XML? 777

Appendix. Shared and Platform-Specific Keywords 791

Index 799