For all the buzz about trendy IT techniques, data processing is still at the core of our systems, especially now that enterprises all over the world are confronted with exploding volumes of data. Database performance has become a major headache, and most IT departments believe that developers should provide simple SQL code to solve immediate problems and let DBAs tune any "bad SQL" later.

In The Art of SQL, author and SQL expert Stephane Faroult argues that this "safe approach" only leads to disaster. His insightful book, named after Art of War by Sun Tzu, contends that writing quick inefficient code is sweeping the dirt under the rug. SQL code may run for 5 to 10 years, surviving several major releases of the database management system and on several generations of hardware. The code must be fast and sound from the start, and that requires a firm understanding of SQL and relational theory.

The Art of SQL offers best practices that teach experienced SQL users to focus on strategy rather than specifics. Faroult's approach takes a page from Sun Tzu's classic treatise by viewing database design as a military campaign. You need knowledge, skills, and talent. Talent can't be taught, but every strategist from Sun Tzu to modern-day generals believed that it can be nurtured through the experience of others. They passed on their experience acquired in the field through basic principles that served as guiding stars amid the sound and fury of battle. This is what Faroult does with SQL.

Like a successful battle plan, good architectural choices are based on contingencies. What if the volume of this or that table increases unexpectedly? What if, following a merger, the number of users doubles? What if you want to keep several years of data online? Faroult's way of looking at SQL performance may be unconventional and unique, but he's deadly serious about writing good SQL and using SQL well. The Art of SQL is not a cookbook, listing problems and giving recipes. The aim is to get you-and your manager-to raise good questions.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 18 Ratings

This is the book to have if you want to discover better practices for your SQL - 2007-03-14
Reviewer Rating:
This book review was submitted by a Roanoke Valley SQL Server Users Group member as part of the Book Review Program.

Reviewed by Jerry Ellis

The Art of SQL does not fall into the trap of becoming "just another reference" for SQL users. It tackles real world problems with the point of view that you know how to write SQL code, but may need help in the proper tactics to most effectively handle them. What is refreshing is that it does not say here is a piece of code that will do this...it says, that may work, but here is a better way and why.

This is the book to have if you want to discover better practices for your SQL.

Jerry Ellis

Overall, well done - 2008-11-23
Reviewer Rating:
Very well written; examples are a bit goofy, perhaps, but the author is undeniably knowledgeable and has much to say both on commonly referenced mistakes - insufficient indexing - and also on less commonly known ones - like overindexing. Overall, the book covers the subject quite well.

If Sun Tzu Wrote SQL... - 2008-11-14
Reviewer Rating:
...he might write a book like "The Art of SQL". There are a lot of SQL books on the market - some of them very good. So why would there need to be a new book written about the subject? You know, when I first picked up this book I thought the very same thing. But then, after reading through it, I'm convinced that we need Stephane Faroult's "The Art of SQL."

This book deals with SQL performance through the lens of Sun Tzu's venerable treatise "The Art of War." For those who do not know it, "The Art of War" is an ancient Chinese military treatise written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. It consists of 13 chapters; each one is devoted to a single aspect of warfare. Many view it as the definitive work on military strategies and tactics. This ancient book is still being read and followed to this day. For such a work to still be viable thousands of years later is a credit to its usefulness and importance.

It is also noteworthy that there have been several attempts by various authors to translate Sun Tzu's tenets into modern day applications such as business philosophy and sales training, but this new book is the first that I know of to translate these concepts into database programming and SQL. The author actually uses the exact same title chapters for The Art of SQL that Sun Tzu used in The Art of War. Amazingly enough, the tactic works.

Consider, for example, the chapter titled "Laying Plans," in which Faroult examines how to design databases for performance. As anyone who ever built database applications knows an improperly designed database can be the biggest impediment to flawless application performance.

The chapter titled "Tactical Dispositions" covers the topic of indexing and in "The Nine Situations" the author examines several calssic SQL patterns and how best to approach them.

This book is not for a novice who wants to learn SQL from scratch. The author assumes the reader is conversant with SQL as he describes how to apply SQL in a practical manner. If you can't code an outer join or don't know what a nested table expression or in-line view is, then this is not the book for you.

Neither is the book a list of SQL scripts that you can pluck out and use. Instead, The Art of SQL skillfully manages to explain how to properly attack the job of coding SQL to effectively and efficiently access your data. The book offers best practices that teach experienced SQL users to focus on strategy rather than specifics.

As the author points out, "You need knowledge, you need skills, and you need talent. Talent cannot be taught, but it can be nurtured. This is what most strategists, from Sun Tzu to modern-day generals, have believed." And now Faroult's book, The Art of SQL, is there to help nurture your talent.

An excellent book to read after you think you know databases - 2008-07-14
Reviewer Rating:
This is a book in a somewhat-similar vein to Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs (3rd Edition) (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series): it spends most of its time shining light on the dark nooks and crannies of database design and query optimization, and assumes that you've already at least learned that those dark nooks and crannies exist.

It is also written with the database programmer in mind, rather than the database administrator. There are not many books written for us, and I'm really pleased that one of them is a book this excellent.

Excellent - 2008-01-20
Reviewer Rating:
This book is very well written and goes into depth on the practical reasons behind best-practices as well as real-world examples.

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