Mastering Oracle SQL and SQL*Plus

This exceptional book explains fundamentals in detail, supported by realistic examples, while most other books on the market do not properly cover such basics. If you work with relational databases you need to understand the SQL language. And you will gain full competence to define, access, and manipulate data in an Oracle database, if you do so following this book's guidance.

This book is fully compliant with the latest version of the ANSI SQL standard, and fully updated for the Oracle 10g database. Furthermore, this book is based on a popular Netherlands college textbook (currently in its third edition). And author Lex de Haan is vastly experienced with the Oracle database, and has twenty-five years of teaching experience. de Haan is also a member of the ANSI/ISO SQL standardization national body.

User review
Similiar to some of the Oracle books that I looked at,,.
I have been doing a survey of Oracle books since I have a need to learn this database,, I took this book out of the library and I was looking at some of their samples that look like they have been thrown out there expecting you to get the data behind them. I went online to Apress looking for the source code and downloaded it only to find that the data is missing from the tables (actually all the code contained simple select statements).

If you are learning SQL, and they are presenting how to you functions, they should provide the data as a download, included CD or some other format. Otherwise, the reader will have no clue behind what they are trying to show you,,.

For example, in chapter 4 they are showing the difference between using the select statement with and without the distinct attribute. According to their discussion their are 8 rows displayed instead of 14 except what is the original data entered into the table? Am I missing something?

The only good book that I found is Oracle Database by Jason Price. Even though he focuses on some small stuff he is coherent, complete and thorough in his presentation. In addition the complete source code can be downloaded from the web. The only thing is that he stuffs a lot of the examples into a few files but you can easily cut the information out that you need (at least the table data is provided to the user which really helps),,.

Update:

This past week, I went to the Apress website and filled out an errata on this book,,. Even though, they said the writer will be contacted, I do not think anything will come about changing this issue (even though I do not believe it is a major fix).

User review
Fantastic Intro to SQL
The best introduction to SQL around. Period.
This book is one of those rare instances in which an exceptionally savy author dedicates his knowledge and patience to the beginner in his field, instead of choosing the easy road of writing only high brow, terse and generally useless articles. The pace is gentle but fast enough to keep you interested, presentation style if fantastically clear and engaging. The teaching strategy is hands on and includes a through tutorial of SQL Plus, the essential tool for practicing and sharpening your SQL skills on Oracle.
Exercises are included and Lo and Behold, solutions are also given to all exercises, contrary to the usual sad practice in most technical books and textbooks. Ideal for teaching a class or self-study.
It's very sad that Lex De Haan left us, but we are lucky to have books like this in which his knowledge, talent and experience live on and can be precious to many database students and professionals.
Thank you, Lex.

User review
Disappointed
Disappointed; although quite lengthy in its treatment of the subject matter what use is an index when the pages are not numbered? In addition, the much touted companion CD, where is it?

User review
Another Fantastic Oracle Book from Apress
First the negatives of the book:
* Page numbers are missing from all pages except the first page of each chapter. This is not a critical problem until one attempts to use the index at the back of the book to locate a specific topic.
* The initial word in a couple of paragraphs is missing.
* The left-most column of table 2-5 `SQL Arithmetic Operators` is blank. The left-most column of table 4-2 `SQL Comparison Operators` is blank.
* Between listing 9-14 and 9-15 (approximately page 244) the book states that an ORDER BY is executed before a ROWNUM filter in the WHERE clause is applied, when in fact the ORDER BY is applied after the ROWNUM filter is evaluated (based on the pre-existing order of the rows in the table blocks) - meaning that the desired rows from the query would not be returned, and that is why the inline view is required.
* The book states that GROUP BY requires a sort operation, but that is no longer the case with more recent releases of Oracle (it was a correct statement as of the original publication date).
* The front cover of the book states that the book includes a CD with a developer's license for Oracle 10g (version 10.1.0.2). No CD is included with the book, however a version of Oracle with a developer license may be downloaded from Oracle's OTN website.
* The book has limited coverage of analytical functions.

Like many of the Apress books, this book is extremely well written with a thoughtful layout and a careful progression of topics. This approach will help to advance the skills of readers who are just beginning to understand how to write Oracle SQL statements, and there is sufficient coverage of `newer` (or little known) syntax to assist long-term intermediate and advanced users of Oracle SQL in finding better ways of attacking old coding problems (using UPDATE against an inline view, instead-of-triggers, outputting HTML from SQL*Plus, regular expressions, INSERT ALL, SYS_CONNECT_BY_PATH, etc.).

Syntax of SQL*Plus commands and Oracle specific SQL is interspersed throughout the book's chapters, introduced as those commands are needed by the author's examples. I initially felt a bit disappointed by this approach until I noticed the thoroughness and organization of appendix A `Quick Reference to SQL and SQL*Plus`. For an intermediate to advanced user of Oracle SQL and SQL*Plus, that section of the book will prove invaluable when trying to determine if the correct linking syntax for a SQL statement is `ON`, `IN`, `OVER`, `FROM`, `TO`, or `OF`. For a beginner, that section of the book while help to quickly determine if a SQL command exists for a specific task.

Even with the negatives outlined at the beginning of this review, most of which appear to be typesetting issues, this book is still the best Oracle SQL reference that I have found so far, providing just enough detail to help a person to become productive when interacting with Oracle databases, without overwhelming the reader with 20 variations of different SQL statements which accomplish the same basic task. I just wish that I had found a book of this caliber a decade earlier.

User review
Well written and easy to follow
What a pleasure to pick up a computer book and finish it.
I was completely new to SQL and was looking for a book that would get me started, this was it.
What impressed me more was when I came upon an obstacle the response I received from the author was quick and informative.

Many thanks Lex