Joe Celko's Analytics and OLAP in SQL (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)

Before SQL programmers could begin working with OLTP (On-Line Transaction Processing) systems, they had to unlearn procedural, record-oriented programming before moving on to SQL's declarative, set-oriented programming. This book covers the next step in your growth. OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing), Data Warehousing and Analytics involve seeing data in the aggregate and over time, not as single transactions. Once more it is time to unlearn what you were previously taught.

This book is not an in-depth look at particular subjects, but an overview of many subjects that will give the working RDBMS programmers a map of the terra incognita they will face-if they want to grow.

* Expert advice from a noted SQL authority and award-winning columnist, who has given ten years of service to the ANSI SQL standards committee and many more years of dependable help to readers of online forums.

* First book that teaches what SQL programmers need in order to successfully make the transition from transactional systems (OLTP) into the world of data warehouse data and OLAP.

* Offers real-world insights and lots of practical examples.

* Covers the OLAP extensions in SQL-99; ETL tools, OLAP features supported in DBMSs, other query tools, simple reports, and statistical software.

User review
Stick to SQL for Smarties
There's very little useful information in here beyond what you'll find in Celko's SQL for Smarties book, which is a good reference, albeit full of errors. What's especially disappointing to me is that several sections from that book were moved into this new volume, but only lightly edited, if at all, thereby perpetuating many typos and technical errors from several editions ago. Technical books really need better editing if they're going to be good teaching tools, otherwise they just wind up misleading and frustrating the reader. In this case, I feel like I bought a bunch of outtakes and remixes from an artist whose recording contract demanded additional albums when only the first was truly inspired.

User review
Buen libro, como todos los de Celko
Ideal para las personas que tienen experiencia en base de datos y desean introducirse en el mundo de los sistemas de análisis de datos. No es un libro para todo tipo de público ya que requiere ciertas habilidades en SQL, específicamente sobre vistas y agrupaciones. Ampliamente recomendado.

User review
Great Read
I found this gem in the usual aisles at my favorite bookstore among other technical books. Yet, this is a book on SQL, OLAP, Warehouse and metrics that is great because `he cuts to the chase`. So many technical books have way too much information and boring paragraphs with little real world examples or insights or lessons learned.
If you enjoy databases and data analysis, this book is great. I'm going to check out other books by this author because I think he is on to something in providing information and insights to technical domains.
Great job!