Rating: 
Summary: ERRORS and BAD Examples
Review: I knew some SQL and chose this book to drill it in since I hadn't used it in a while.
This book is pretty basic, but that was expected.
Whenever I read a review that mentioned errors in a book I didn't really see the big deal or imagine how bad it could be, but it is a big deal and it's a royal pain in the you know. In this book there are errors in examples, in quizes, in syntax, you name it. And this is the 2nd edition too.
Even more important, the examples are not good at all. I know what they are trying to say because I know some SQL but I feel bad for the beginner. The examples are not relevant to the particular components they are trying to teach half the time.
I will never get one of these books again, the lack of care put into the editing alone says something about Sams.
Rating: 
Summary: Great SQL book for beginners!
Review: I loved this book. The book is clear, easy to understand, no errors, provides good sample code. You can use code examples with any SQL based database with some modifications to fit your implementation. I used MS Access with this book. The largest portion of the book is devoted to Select statements, which is what the majority of users really need.
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Mistakes
Review: I wanted to provide feedback on this book. I am shocked at how many mistakes I've found in the examples, Q&A, workshops, and exercises.
I had some basic understanding of SQL before I started reading this book, but am trying to learn from this book to better my foundation of knowledge of SQL. Unfortunately, too many times I hit yet another mistake in the book that causes me to have to figure out the problem by working around the book, not with it, or worse, I may not be certain I've even understood the concept to due several contradictions between the conceptual material and the examples/exercises.Learning a database language by unlearning mistakes in the training material is not the right way to learn anything. I have the third edition. I have not seen the fourth edition, but my confidence is not strong the issues will have been ironed out (they haven't been by the third edition).
Rating:
Summary: Great book on SQL
Review: I was learning to program in C++Builder and found that second guessing SQL was not getting me anywhere. All the books that I had either covered Builder or C++, and I was stumbling with the database stuff because I didn't know SQL. The Book brought me well up to speed with the syntax and I was programming in SQL in no time. The book focuses on ANSI SQL and shows how a couple of databases implement their own versions of the syntax. I had no trouble using the example code with my database, with only a few modifications. Because the book is fairly short, it wastes no time and gets straight into programming without having large chapters for the reader to wade through. This is one book that you can truly get through in 24 hours.
Rating: 
Summary: It did help me learn SQL...but it is geared toward Oracle
Review: It is a very well written book (barring typos in examples and exercises). New release is coming in March..so this should improve. I am a beginner learning DB2. Oracle and DB2 SQL has many differences...so while this book was helpful, I had to read the IBM DB2 SQL reference manual to often to figure out correct syntax. It took me much longer then 24 hours. So I can only give it 3 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Teach yourself Oracle SQL in 24 Hours
Review: It is not important how much you pay for a book, It is important on what you spend your precious time. This Book Lies! It lies in its title.
Title must be change to:
"Learn Oracle SQL in 24 Hours"
More than 90% of samples are for oracle. Author only mentions that this SQL can be done in other implementations!!! Bottom Line: DO NOT BUY THIS if you are trying to learn MS SQL
For sql server.
Rating:
Summary: Typos mar otherwise strong effort to teach SQL.
Review: Text would have benefited from a few more prerelease proofings. Too many examples leave out required elements (such as ending ";") or contain erroneous references and garbled syntax. This does not endear the new student to the learning process. Did the tech editor talk with the copy editor? did the authors proofread? Fortunately, experience with good old Datatrieve and several layers of MS Access helped to fill in where their Oracle and Sybase examples stopped. Guess I know more SQL than I thought!
Rating:
Summary: Very lucid explanation of SQL.
Review: The best book I have found to explain SQL to someone with no experience. It is very easy to grasp SQL using this book. Plus the format allows one to invest a little bit of time each day and make recognizable progress. In addition, if you don't have access to database software, you can still do the exercises and check your results.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent start for beginners!
Review: The book is really great. It helped many people I know to learn SQL starting from the very basics. Yes, one can say it's ORACLE biased (and I would definitely recommend it to people who want to start learning ORACLE), but I think that's rather a plus.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book for those who know some SQL already
Review: The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because of its 50,000 errors. There seems to be some sort of error on every page. Fire the editor and you have yourself a 5 star book
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