The Kindle title is not currently available for purchase

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Anthony Molinaro

Follow

SQL Cookbook: Query Solutions and Techniques for Database Developers (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)) 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Anthony Molinaro (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 315 ratings

See all formats and editions

You know the rudiments of the SQL query language, yet you feel you aren't taking full advantage of SQL's expressive power. You'd like to learn how to do more work with SQL inside the database before pushing data across the network to your applications. You'd like to take your SQL skills to the next level.

Let's face it, SQL is a deceptively simple language to learn, and many database developers never go far beyond the simple statement: SELECT columns FROM table WHERE conditions. But there is so much more you can do with the language. In the SQL Cookbook, experienced SQL developer Anthony Molinaro shares his favorite SQL techniques and features. You'll learn about:

Window functions, arguably the most significant enhancement to SQL in the past decade. If you're not using these, you're missing out

Powerful, database-specific features such as SQL Server's PIVOT and UNPIVOT operators, Oracle's MODEL clause, and PostgreSQL's very useful GENERATE_SERIES function

Pivoting rows into columns, reverse-pivoting columns into rows, using pivoting to facilitate inter-row calculations, and double-pivoting a result set

Bucketization, and why you should never use that term in Brooklyn.

How to create histograms, summarize data into buckets, perform aggregations over a moving range of values, generate running-totals and subtotals, and other advanced, data warehousing techniques

The technique of walking a string, which allows you to use SQL to parse through the characters, words, or delimited elements of a string

Written in O'Reilly's popular Problem/Solution/Discussion style, the SQL Cookbook is sure to please. Anthony's credo is: "When it comes down to it, we all go to work, we all have bills to pay, and we all want to go home at a reasonable time and enjoy what's still available of our days." The SQL Cookbook moves quickly from problem to solution, saving you time each step of the way.

ISBN-13

978-0596009762
Edition

1st
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

O'Reilly Media
Publication date

December 16, 2005
Language

English
File size

1761 KB
See all details

Report an issue with this product or seller

Read with the free Kindle apps (available on iOS, Android, PC & Mac), Kindle E-readers and on Fire Tablet devices. See all supported devices

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Anthony Molinaro is a SQL developer and database administrator with many years experience in helping developers improve their SQL queries. SQL is particular passion of Anthony's, and he's become known as the go-to guy among his clients when it comes to solving difficult SQL query problems. He's well-read, understands relational theory well, and has nine years of hands-on experience solving tough, SQL problems. Anthony is particularly well-acquainted with new and powerful SQL features such as the windowing function syntax that was added to the most recent SQL standard.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0026OR3KI
Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (December 16, 2005)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 16, 2005
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1761 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 886 pages

Customer Reviews:
4.6 315 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Anthony Molinaro

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

315 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Nate Lincoln

I write SQL for a living, and this book is why I am able to do my job effectively.

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

It's the first SQL book I picked up, but be warned, it is for at least intermediate level users. So by the time I reached Chapter 3, I gave up and bought Ben-Gan's Fundamentals of T-SQL first (which I recommend going through before this book if you are a beginner).
If you are using T-SQL, I think Ben-Gan's book is a perfect intro to this one. However, this is the book that takes you to another level. This is the book that enables you to find solutions that others won't be able to. This is the book that makes you a player at work if you aren't a developer and you write SQL. There are no functions, triggers, optimization, table and view creation details. This book is about pulling whatever you want with those things already created (although there is a chapter on metadata and another on inserting/updating). So it isn't for everyone (Developers and Beginners especially).

Also, the book's date may scare people. I mean, the book could use an update as it is working with SQL Server 2005 (if you write T-SQL like I do). Based on the date, I'm sure the editions of the other platforms are outdated as well. With SQL Server 2005 capabilities though, you still get Window Functions, Pivots, string extraction, cast, convert, etc., and some of the Oracle functions not in SQL Server 2005 are a part of T-SQL in later editions, so at times, you can use the Oracle solution or pieces of it if you are using the latest edition of SQL Server (if you need to use lead and lag for example). The important functions that still exist are there for the most part (Concat for example, is not).

Most people know how to use partitioning, cases, and subqueries, but can they cast an integer as a string to cast it again into decimal, average that decimal using a case statement that filters out negative values and partition the average as a window function based on multiple criteria all in one line? This book turns you into a magician, and it is all hands on examples, no filler, no lengthy unneeded explanations. Learn by doing.

46 people found this helpful

Helpful

John R. Spencer

Helped Me (a SQL Newbie) Deliver Cmplex SQL Reports

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2008

Verified Purchase

I was tasked with deliverying 6 key-performance-indicator (KPI) using SQL and Crystal Reports and an Oracle database. And for three disparate areas in the world (USA, Singapore, and The Netherlands).
Sure, I could write a 'SELECT' statement or perform and 'UPDATE'.
But, I did not know how to approach SQL as being a 'complete' solution for record selection.
The Crystal Reports portion was not too much trouble.
I was using the PL/SQL environment for creating the SQL. Oracle 10g.

Mr. Molinaro's book was instrumental in having me develop what turned out to be some rather complex SQL.
It took awhile to get to use SQL's window functions. But, the author's presentation/explanation made them more than approachable---and quite useful.
I liked the explanations that covered the multiple vendors' database engines.
I will make no pretense of having reached SQL knowledge 'nirvana'--However, there was more than one time where I was out of ideas on how to get/count certain data----The SQL Cookbook did its job by showinge 'yet another way' to approach a pressing problem with a solution.
And one can gain a deep understanding of how SQL works. Always a plus for anyone that is new to an environment.
If there was something like a SQL University, this book seems to be text that would work very well for giving students more than enough 'footing' to face the 'real' world. It did for me.
I am more than pleased to have this book as part of my SQL 'library.'

16 people found this helpful

Helpful

Eric M

Good reference for developers with secondary querying responsibilities

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

When you work with SQL infrequently, as I do, but do things beyond the trivial, this book is an excellent way to dive right back into complex query tasks. This has been an invaluable reference that sits on my desk and gets pulled down when I need a guide to accomplish a task. It serves as a way to find a basic approach to the problem at hand and then I can adapt and perhaps combine one or more recipes to do the job. The time saved and effective solutions developed have proved this to be a valuable resource over and over again.

I am not sure how effective this book would be for someone who works on intermediate or advanced queries on a frequent basis. The recipes run the gamut from simple to complicated. However, for someone who needs to dive back in the queries once a month or so, it is a great reference to have on hand. The database-agnostic approach has also benefited me as I moved from an Oracle shop, to an outdated SQL Server shop, to a modern SQL Server shop.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

R. Jones

Exactly what I needed as a business analyst

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book was exactly what I needed - I needed some code that I could take an apply to a variety of scenarios. I am a business data analyst - not a DBA. I don't need to know anything about database structure, creating, updating, or deleting tables. I just need to know how to query to extract info.

I already had the basics down on: JOIN, WHERE, GROUP BY, so I was able to jump to about half way into the book before I hit new material. I struck gold in the chapters on reporting building which took my queries to the next level of aggregating and formatting the data.

Most my experience in the past was using Microsoft SQL Server, my current use is IBM DB2, so having the layout of how to do things both ways really made everything so much easier for me.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

J. Elam

My most-used SQL reference

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2011

Verified Purchase

I have owned this book since 2006, and I use it in a DB2 environment. I do not use SQL daily or perhaps I would have outgrown the book by now. As it is, the book is smudged and dogeared. It is the book I open every time I need to do something new with SQL, or something that I have not done for a long time. It is extremely well organized, and I rarely have to spend much time finding what I'm looking for. In all this time I have found only one example that was erroneous among all the various topics I've pursued; that was for a complex statement that could have been impacted by an update to DB2 over time. I think it's remarkable that a single book could be so useful over such a long period of time. It is the single most valuable reference book I have ever purchased. I very much recommend it.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

jorge marcano

Product on excelente conditions

Reviewed in Canada on January 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

Learning new skills

Adrián

Excelente!!!

Reviewed in Mexico on September 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

Lo que necesitaba para estudiar, con un detalle en el libro debido a la paquetería.

Translate review to English

Massimo_Jr

Da leggere

Reviewed in Italy on December 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

Ottimo, moltissimi esempi e tecniche, soprattutto per chi lavora con i reporting services.

Translate review to English

Say No More 67

Highly recommended for intermediate level

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

I found many of the hundreds of real life examples very useful.
How much useful can be seen by my extensive use of highlighting and bookmarks.
It certainly boosted my productivity, especially the sections about Cubes, Window Functions and Common Table Expressions (CTE).

One person found this helpful

Scott

Excellent learning resource

Reviewed in Canada on April 17, 2019

Verified Purchase

These recipes teach you a tonne of fundamental techniques in a very clear way. Specific syntax examples are given for each database vendor for each recipe.