How to Use This Book

SQL in a Nutshell, Second Edition , is primarily a command reference. As a consequence, you'll probably use it to look up a variety of SQL commands and functions. However, with documentation for the ANSI standard itself, plus five database platforms, each command has the potential to get very large.

In order to reduce the verbiage describing each command, we compare each platform's implementation to the SQL2003 standard. If the platform supports a clause described in the SQL2003 discussion, then we won't repeat that clause again.

Generic and transportable examples are provided within the body of each SQL2003 command description. Since the SQL2003 standard is ahead of most database platforms, examples aren't provided for elements of the SQL2003 commands that are not supported by any platform discussed in this book. In addition, more examples are provided for each database platform that highlight unique extensions and enhancements.

We recognize that our approach may necessitate jumping from a description of a platform's implementation of a command back to the corresponding SQL2003 command description. However, we felt that this was better than packing the book with hundreds of pages of redundant content.

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Resources

The following web sites provide additional information about the various platforms covered in this book:

DB2: IBM's DB2 database is supported on the Web at http://www.software.ibm.com/data/db2/. DB2 has an active and vibrant user community located on the Web at http://www.idug.org.
MySQL: The corporate resource for MySQL is http://www.mysql.com, and another good site is http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/mysql. A great developer resource with lots of useful tips is Devshed.com. See http://www. devshed .com/Server_Side/MySQL/ for MySQL-specific information.
PostgreSQL: The home for this open source database is located at http://www.postgresql.org. With a great deal of useful information available for download, this site also maintains mailing lists for PostgreSQL users. Another PostgreSQL site worth investigating is http://www.pgsql.com, which offers support for commercial customers.
Oracle: Oracle's cyberspace home is http://www.oracle.com. A great resource for hard- core Oracle users is http://www.oracle.com/technology. You can also find all Oracle documentation at http://tahiti.oracle.com.
SQL Server: The official Microsoft SQL Server web site is http://www.microsoft.com/sql/. Another good resource is found at the home of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) at http://www.sqlpass.org.