Beginning Oracle SQL: For Oracle Database 12c, Third Edition

Beginning Oracle SQL is your introduction to the interactive query tools and specific dialect of SQL used with Oracle Database. These tools include SQL*Plus and SQL Developer. SQL*Plus is the one tool any Oracle developer or database administrator can always count on, and it is widely used in creating scripts to automate routine tasks. SQL Developer is a powerful, graphical environment for developing and debugging queries.

Oracle's is possibly the most valuable dialect of SQL from a career standpoint. Oracle's database engine is widely used in corporate environments worldwide. It is also found in many government applications. Oracle SQL implements many features not found in competing products. No developer or DBA working with Oracle can afford to be without knowledge of these features and how they work, because of the performance and expressiveness they bring to the table.

Written in an easygoing and example-based style, Beginning Oracle SQL is the book that will get you started down the path to successfully writing SQL statements and getting results from Oracle Database.

• Takes an example-based approach, with clear and authoritative explanations
• Introduces both SQL and the query tools used to execute SQL statements
• Shows how to create tables, populate them with data, and then query that data to generate business results

What you’ll learn

• Create database tables and define their relationships.
• Add data to your tables. Then change and delete that data.
• Write database queries that generate accurate results.
• Avoid common traps and pitfalls in writing SQL queries, especially from nulls.
• Reap the performance and expressiveness of analytic and window functions.
• Make use of Oracle Database's support for object types.
• Write recursive queries to query hierarchical data.

About the Author

Lex de Haan studied applied mathematics at the Technical University in Delft, The Netherlands. His experience with Oracle went back to the mid-1980s, version 4. He worked for Oracle Corporation from 1990 until 2004, in various education-related roles and ended up in Server Technologies (product development) as senior curriculum manager for the advanced DBA curriculum. In that role, he was involved in the development of Oracle9i Database and Oracle Database 10g. In March 2004, he decided to go independent and founded Natural Join B.V. In 1999, he became involved in the ISO SQL language standardization process, as a member of the Dutch national body. Lex passed away on February 1, 2006.

Tim Gorman began his information technology career in 1984 as a C programmer on UNIX and VMS systems, working on medical and financial systems as an application developer, systems programmer, and systems administrator. He joined Oracle Corporation in 1990 as a consultant, then became an independent consultant in 1998, and has worked for Evergreen Database Technologies (EvDBT.com) since then. He is the co-author of Oracle8 Data Warehousing, Essential Oracle8i Data Warehousing, Oracle Insights: Tales Of The Oak Table, and Expert Oracle Practices: Database Administration From The Oak Table. He specializes in performance tuning, as well as data warehouse design and implementation, backup and recovery, architecture and infrastructure, and database administration in challenging scenarios. He is a frequent Oracle conference speaker.

After a Languages Master degree (English and French) Inger Jørgensen started working at Oracle Denmark teaching SQL and PL/SQL as well as database administration from Oracle version 6 onward with a five-year period in between of teaching developers Forms, Reports, and Graphics. Inger spent 18 years at Oracle Corporation and is presently a teacher and a consultant at Oracle Gold partner Miracle A/S in Denmark.

Melanie Caffrey is a senior development manager for Oracle Corporation, providing front-end and back-end Oracle solutions for the business needs of various clients. She is co-author of several technical publications including Expert PL/SQL Practices for Oracle Developers and DBAs, and Expert Oracle Practices: Oracle Database Administration from the Oak Table (Apress), and the SQL 101 series of articles for Oracle Magazine. She instructed students in Columbia University's Computer Technology and Applications program in New York City, teaching advanced Oracle database administration and PL/SQL development. She is a frequent Oracle conference speaker and a member of the Oak Table network.