Rating: 
Summary: Very good introduction to SQL for beginners.
Review: The book is well organized and simple for beginners to understand. It starts off with the simple stuff and works up to more complicated issues such as unions etc. If your a beginner, I recommend this book highly. If you have access to a SQL database at home, the examples are easy to follow, although depending on your database you may need to tweak the language a little.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Starting Point
Review: The last time I worked with databases, my entire computer (RAM + mass storage) had less than one MEGAbyte of memory. No hard disk, just two 360 kB floppy disk drives and 128K of RAM. I just got saddled with a data-mining project that will process tens of gigabytes of data in a networked environment. My analysis tools can use SQL to access the data. This book was the first thing I insisted on. (Kind of embarassing for a senior person to be seen carrying a thick yellow and black book with the word "DUMMIES" on it ...)This has proven to be an excellent starting point. I know plenty about computers and programming. I vaguely remember the essentials of relational databases (for those who don't, basic information is in the book, it should be enough to get started, even if you are absolutely ignorant!) Taylor packaged enough of the right information that I could read his book over the weekend and dive into the planning stages of our project on Monday sounding like I knew a thing or two. The book charts a course from the most basic elements of databases to modestly complicated database and query materials. The author discusses common pitfalls and useful strategies. This book isn't enough, by itself, to turn somebody into a database wonk, but it's a great starting point. I got a bit annoyed by some of the "cute" material used to make the subject seem less threatening, but that filler doesn't take up too much space and is easily skipped. Also, the book is overly Microsoft centered--the author uses Windows applications as examples and champions Microsofts ODBC. A section about using SQL in a Unix/Linux environment should have been included (access from shell scripts, PERL, etc?). A solid four-star introduction to SQL and database technology in a Microsoft world. (If you'd like to discuss this book or review in more detail, please click on the "about me" link above and drop me some email. Thanks!)
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely NOT for beginners
Review: This book assumes you already know the basics of SQL and programming. Feh! I sent it back and got PL/SQL 101...a book that REALLY understands how to teach beginners with no prior experience in SQL.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely NOT for beginners
Review: This book assumes you already know the basics of SQL and programming. Feh! I sent it back and got PL/SQL 101...a book that REALLY understands how to teach beginners with no prior experience in SQL.
Rating:
Summary: Good intro to SQL
Review: This book helps to "demystify" SQL. Before I started reading this and also "Learn SQL in 10 Minutes," by Ben Forta, I had a mortal fear of databases, one that thanks to this book I now realize is totally unfounded. This book has a lot of good technical information about SQL, but it's presented in a way that makes it easy to understand and won't "scare off" the beginners like me. I liked how the author took great pains to explain a lot of SQL commands, making them relate to the topic being discussed. The first two chapters cover relational database and SQL fundamentals. The next few chapters discuss more details about SQL, first its "languages," then how to build a SQL database, and once it's built how to retrieve data from it, and also issues relating to keeping it secure. Generally, a good "Dummies" book on a complex subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Its Great
Review: This book was just a good as my University's suggested text book. If you need to know something regarding SQL, it is IN HERE. Definitely worth checking out, you won't have regret or be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Great Intro to Access SQL, Only two Problems
Review: This is a book that I really wish that I'd had when I first started doing a web application that was to use an Access database for the backend data. I looked at a lot of Access books, but none of them went into Access SQL. For that alone this book is worth five stars.
This book starts with a bit of discussion on the fundamentals of a relational database, but not too much. After all, this is covered in all the Access books. It quickly gets into the fundamentals of SQL itself.
I was a bit concerned when he started using the Microsoft graphical design tools to create the database, but he quickly went into using SQL CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE commands. From there on he went on to a reasonable complete but elementary discussion on using most the the rest of SQL.
You gotta have a few complaints, so:
There is discussion in the book, including a list of reserved words for SQL:2003. But Access doesn't talk SQL:2003. It doesn't even talk SQL:92, it's an extended SQL:89. A list of Access reserved words would have been nice.
He doesn't talk about the two database engines in Access, Jet and MSDE; and these two engines speak very different dialects of SQL.
Rating:
Summary: A superb, clearly written book covering far more than SQL
Review: This is a truly excellent book. I bought it knowing very little about databases, and to my pleasant surprise found that it covers far more than simply SQL - it also gives you a thorough and easy-to-understand grounding in what databases are, how they work, and why they work the way they do. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand databases from scratch, as well as anyone wanting to learn SQL.
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