SQL QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Managing, Analyzing, and Manipulating Data With SQL (Coding & Programming - QuickStart Guides)

Covers all of the basics, and then some. A great book if you are looking to learn SQL or need to brush up on some skills.

I am compelled to share my overwhelmingly positive experience with the SQL Quickstart Giude which has proven to be an exceptional resource for anyone wanting to delve into the world of SQL coding.First and foremost, the book is written in an extremely accessible manner, deftly simplifying complex concepts into digestible portions for beginners, yet providing deeper insights for seasoned developers. It transcends the barrier of technical jargon, presenting information in an intuitive, reader-friendly style.However, the true selling point of this book, which separates it from the plethora of SQL resources available in the market, is the ingenious inclusion of its online resources. This addition enhances the book's value immeasurably, allowing the reader to step beyond the theoretical and put their knowledge into practice immediately.The online resources that accompany the book provide a unique learning ecosystem, an ideal blend of theory and practice. They offer a plethora of well-organized and insightful coding examples for each chapter, which are also available for download. This allows the readers not only to work along as they learn but also to experiment and implement their own iterations of the code. This hands-on approach cements the concepts learned in a way that theoretical learning alone cannot.Moreover, these downloads enable offline access, which ensures that you can learn at your convenience, a feature that not many SQL books offer. This aspect of anytime, anywhere learning is crucial in our current fast-paced world.Furthermore, the author provides ample exercises to test your understanding, which are then complemented by detailed solutions on the online platform. This real-time feedback is instrumental in understanding one's progress and identifying areas for improvement, which paves the way for a confident and competent SQL programmer.In conclusion, the "SQL Quickstart Guide" with its companion online resources has proven to be an unbeatable combination for learning SQL. It has created a learning experience that is seamless, engaging, and, most importantly, effective. It is a rare gem in a field often dominated by dense, inaccessible texts and I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to embark or advance their journey in SQL programming.

I got the printed version. The e-version is probably just as good. This book enabled me to learn to do basic SQL queries. I'm not a techy person by any means, and I took several online tutorials, but found them confusing. I was unable to do the "homework" except for the most simple problems.After using the book, I was able to query what I needed from my databases at work. I even surpassed the queries that others had done before me by cleaning them up.The reason I give 4 stars instead of 5 is that some of the lessons didn't work in my DB. Some of the functions are different in different versions of SQL.I'd highly recommend this if you're a beginner with queries. Downloading the practice DB is easy. It was also helpful for me to learn a bit of DB background and syntax that the other online lessons didn't address.

As a true beginner to SQL this was incredibly helpful and easy for me to understand. I will be keeping this book in my Data Analysis library for years to come in this journey. Thank you.

This is a terrific title to introduce SQL to the reader. The reader will not be an expert in the topic but will be well equipped as a beginner and ready to go further if they are interested.

Walter Shields does a fantastic job of writing this book from a perspective that a reader will have no clue on databases, or SQL. I'm a former Database programmer, but after being away for so many years I had to come back to SQL, and I needed a reference quick. Everything is written in a step by step easy to swallow informational way that leaves no room for failure. Even the examples are fantastic. This book is compatible with opensource SQL so need to pay for anything but the book.Get the spiral edition, it lays flat on the table and is easier to follow.Unlike McGraw Hill, Cengage, Thomson Course Technology, this book doesn't expire and block you from buying a used copy to prevent you from downloading the files needed to learn.A fantastic reference, a great book, timeless because it doesn't expire.

I'm about halfway through this book. I have a condition that makes it hard to read. This book does a good job of teaching SQLite but spends too much time stressing the importance of comments and style. I agree, that these things are important, however, not to the audience of the book.The reader would have been better served by getting into the grit of SQL syntax and which keywords to use when versus ensuring that every query had a comment block with name, date, and description. Moreover, requiring every reader to download a prewritten database to work from and special utilities to follow along takes away from the learning experience.That said, you will learn the basics about SQLite, and by the end of the book be able to handle most problems you'll encounter when developing an application.

Sometimes I need a really simplistic overview of an entire subject before I feel comfortable sitting down to learn it. Like if you are going to learn about, say, 13th Century France you might want to know just a little about the major issues of the entire century before sitting down with a text book. This book is good for that. It's short, it gets you started with the main keywords, and at the end you have a good picture of what the language can do. And you can get to the end in a day or two. It's very well written, well organized, clear, and very very limited in scope. But if you read it, you will be in good shape to start getting down to business with working with SQL with a more advanced text. This book, in my opinion, was well worth the money and the read even though ultimately I turned to something far more advanced.