MariaDB and MySQL Common Table Expressions and Window Functions Revealed

Walk away from old-fashioned and cumbersome query approaches and answer your business intelligence questions through simple and powerful queries built on common table expressions (CTEs) and window functions. These new features in MariaDB and MySQL help you to write queries without having to wade through a quagmire of brittle self-joins and other crazy techniques from the past. Your queries will generate correct results, be more readable and less brittle in the face of unexpected data, and you’ll be able to adapt them quickly in the face of changing business requirements.

MariaDB and MySQL Common Table Expressions and Window Functions Revealed introduces and explains CTEs and window functions, newly available in MariaDB 10.2 and MySQL 8.0, and helps you understand why and how every MariaDB and MySQL database programmer should learn and apply these features in their daily work. CTEs and especially window functions enable easy solutions to many query challenges that in prior releases have been difficult and sometimes impossible to surmount. Mastering these features opens the door to query solutions that are more robust, execute faster, and are easier to maintain over time than prior solutions using older techniques. The book:

• Takes you step-by-step through the workings of common table expressions and window functions
• Provides easy-to-follow examples of the new syntax
• Helps you answer business questions faster and easier than ever

What You'll Learn

• Answer business questions using simple queries that don’t break in the face of unexpected data
• Avoid writing queries that are a difficult-to-maintain quagmire of self-joins and nested subqueries
• Recognize situations that call for window functions, and learn when to use these features
• Reduce the need for performance-robbing self-joins
• Simplify and speed the execution of analytical queries
• Create queries that finish in seconds instead of hours

Who This Book Is For

Database administrators and application developers who want to quickly get up to speed on important features in MariaDB and MySQL for writing business intelligence queries. Any developer writing SQL against MariaDB and MySQL databases will benefit tremendously from the knowledge and techniques this book provides.

About the Author

Daniel Bartholomew has been using Linux since 1997 and databases since 1998. In addition to this book, he has written MariaDB Cookbook and Getting Started with MariaDB (1st and 2nd editions), and dozens of articles for various magazines, including The Linux Journal, Linux Pro, Ubuntu User, and Tux. Daniel became involved with the MariaDB project shortly after it began in early 2009, and continues to be involved to this day. He currently works for MariaDB, Inc., where he splits his time between managing MariaDB releases, writing new documentation, and maintaining the various bits and pieces that keep the MariaDB project running smoothly. Daniel is currently the official Release Manager for the MariaDB database.