For more than 10 years, the authors have studied, applied, and documented the SQL stan-

dard and its application to critical database systems in this book.

Ryan Stephens and Ron Plew are entrepreneurs, speakers, and cofounders of Perpetual

Technologies, Inc. (PTI), a fast-growing IT management and consulting firm. PTI specializes

in database technologies, primarily Oracle and SQL servers running on all UNIX, Linux,

and Microsoft platforms. Starting out as data analysts and database administrators, Ryan

and Ron now lead a team of impressive technical subject matter experts who manage data-

bases for clients worldwide. They authored and taught database courses for Indiana

University-Purdue University in Indianapolis for five years and have authored more than a

dozen books on Oracle, SQL, database design, and high availability of critical systems.

Arie D. Jones is the principal technology manager for Perpetual Technologies, Inc. (PTI) in

Indianapolis, Indiana. Arie leads PTI’s team of experts in planning, design, development,

deployment, and management of database environments and applications to achieve the

best combination of tools and services for each client. He is a regular speaker at technical

events and has authored several books and articles pertaining to database-related topics.

In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you'll learn how to use SQL to build effective databases, efficiently retrieve your data, and manage everything from performance to security! Using this book's straightforward, step-by-step approach, you'll learn hands-on through practical examples. Each lesson builds on what you've already learned, giving you a strong real-world foundation for success. The authors guide you from the absolute basics to advanced techniques--including views, transactions, Web data publishing, and even powerful SQL extensions for Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server! Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common SQL tasks. Quizzes and Exercises at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge. By the Way notes present interesting information related to the discussion. Did You Know? tips offer advice or show you easier ways to perform tasks. Watch Out! cautions alert you to possible problems and give you advice on how to avoid them. Learn how to! * Understand what SQL is, how it works, and what it does * Define efficient database structures and objects *"Normalize" raw databases into logically organized tables * Edit relational data and tables with DML * Manage database transactions * Write effective, well-performing queries * Categorize, summarize, sort, group, and restructure data * Work with dates and times * Join tables in queries, use subqueries, and combine multiple queries * Master powerful query optimization techniques * Administer databases and manage users * Implement effective database security * Use views, synonyms, and the system catalog * Extend SQL to the enterprise and Internet * Master important Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server extensions to ANSI SQL