Is your data dragging you down? Are your tables all tangled up? Well we've got the tools to teach you just how to wrangle your databases into submission. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory SQL learning experience, Head First SQL has a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep. Maybe you've written some simple SQL queries to interact with databases. But now you want more, you want to really dig into those databases and work with your data. Head First SQL will show you the fundamentals of SQL and how to really take advantage of it. We'll take you on a journey through the language, from basic INSERT statements and SELECT queries to hardcore database manipulation with indices, joins, and transactions. We all know "Data is Power" - but we'll show you how to have "Power over your Data". Expect to have fun, expect to learn, and expect to be querying, normalizing, and joining your data like a pro by the time you're finished reading!

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 39 Ratings

SELECT Lynn Beighley's SQL - 2009-05-03
Reviewer Rating:
Lynn, I was and I still am totally fascinated by your style. People learn in different, sometimes multiple ways. Some only have to hear something said, others can stare at a written page, others still have to say it aloud. And then there are people like me who have to read it, highlight it, have hand written notes in the margin and then, type up the high points which once again get the highlighter treatment. Long and short of it is that there is no "one size fits all" for learning, and you more than anyone else I have read, you nailed it in your writing style. I don't have to use as many colors (not yet at least).

If you and your book were performing on American Idol, all four judges would be drooling and the other contestants would be told to pack up and go home. But that is just my humble opinion.

What is totally missing in other books is the why - why do we do it that way, why is that important - with each page I find you hitting the why and that is the larger part of understanding. Thank you.

Total Disappointment - 2009-04-01
Reviewer Rating:
I am a lover of head first series books. But defenitely not this one!
If you know the basics of SQL - like creating table, inserting rows to it, assigning default values to columns, deleting a table, altering columns, how to select all values from table, how to select distinct value from table, this book is not for you !! This is what they cover from chapter 1 till end.

I was expecting that they would take up the problematic areas in SQL & explain it easy. but this book is like teaching you 1.2.3 & A.B.C

If you think if you are a moderate - good enough SQL programmer, this book is not for you, there is nothing in this book for you.

This is a total total total disappointment, i never felt bad for spending money on books, i do now!!!!

Absolutely Fantastic book on Databases... - 2009-06-05
Reviewer Rating:
This book really taught me about Databases in general and how to use them effectively. I was really just looking for a book that would teach me how to query correctly, but I was pleasantly surprised that this book teaches first, second, and third normal forms and how to properly normalize your tables. It really does go in depth. The reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars was because she spent the whole time on MySQL and didn't mention the others at all. I work with OJDBC (Oracle) and I was burned with some of the differences in syntax.
Overall, this is an excellent book to read for a beginner or even someone who wants to learn how to normalize tables properly.

This book really saved me! - 2010-02-01
Reviewer Rating:
I had struggled a lot with YouTube tutorials and bad course literature and still didn't fully understand 1:st, 2:nd 3:rd normal form, different kind of joins etc. This book made everything so obvious, I understood everything instantly when I read it! A pedagogical masterpiece!

Great until Chapter 9 - 2010-01-16
Reviewer Rating:
This book was GREAT until Chapter 9. They had all of the sample tables on the Head first web site...and it was going really good and I was learning a great deal.

Then they started in Chapter 9 to use tables to teach advanced topics and did not give the tables on the web nor how to set them up or what data they should contain in the book.

I e-mailed the Head First people and they said

"I was able to contact an editor who said that the tables in question don't exist and were merely meant to get the learner thinking about certain things or thinking through ideas around concepts."

But this is not true...it's not just "thinking" about advanced concepts...they are using these tables to teach these advanced concepts...and having you get data that they don't give you from the tables they don't define.

I loved this book until this point. I really did...but now I am stuck...because it was Chapter 9 and beyond that I really needed and wanted.

I feel cheated by their answer and lack of help.

If you don't need advanced concepts then get this book...if you do...then pass.

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