Preface

SQL is the language in the database world. If you're developing for or reporting from relational databases, your ability to put data into a database and then get it back out again ultimately comes down to your knowledge of SQL. Yet many practitioners use SQL in a perfunctory manner, and are unaware of the power at their disposal. This book aims to change all that, by opening your eyes to what SQL can really do for you.

The book you're holding in your hands is a cookbook. It's a collection of common SQL problems and their solutions that I hope you'll find helpful in your day-to-day work. Recipes are categorized into chapters of related topics. When faced with a new SQL problem that you haven't solved before, find the chapter that best seems to apply, skim through the recipe titles, and hopefully you will find a solution, or at least inspiration for a solution.

More than 150 recipes are available in this 600-plus page book, and I've only scratched the surface of what can be done using SQL. The number of different SQL solutions available for solving our daily programming problems is eclipsed only by the number of problems we need to solve. You won't find all possible problems covered in this book. Indeed, such coverage would be impossible. You will, however, find many common problems and their solutions. And in those solutions lie techniques that you'll learn how to expand upon and apply to other, new problems that I never thought to cover.

My publisher and I are constantly on the lookout for new, cookbook-worthy SQL recipes. If you come across a good or clever SQL solution to a problem, consider sharing it; consider sending it in for inclusion in the next edition of this book. See "Comments and Questions" for our contact information.