SQL Tricks (Advanced Database Programming)

Overview

This cookbook of advanced techniques is for anyone who knows the basics of SQL and wants to move beyond simple SELECT-FROM-WHERE queries. You'll find solutions to problems that analysts, app developers, and database programmers often face, from simple tasks, like picking random rows, to complex operations, like traversing hierarchies. Each recipe includes a discussion of the underlying logic, important concepts, and best practices. Take full advantage of standard (ANSI/ISO) SQL, or use DBMS-specific features that dramatically extend the power of standard SQL. Use the scores of code examples directly in real-world DBMS applications, or as a source of insight for related problems.

• Covers Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft Access.
• Implement cross-platform solutions in standard SQL, or DBMS-specific solutions for your particular system.
• SQL code listings help you see the elements and structure of the language.
• Download the sample database and code listings to follow along with the author's examples.
• Plenty of tips, tricks, and timesavers.
• Fully indexed and cross-referenced.

Contents

Introduction

1. Running SQL Programs

2. Calculating Running Statistics

3. Generating Sequences

4. Finding Sequences, Runs, and Regions

5. Limiting the Number of Rows Returned

6. Assigning Ranks

7. Calculating a Trimmed Mean

8. Picking Random Rows

9. Handling Duplicates

10. Creating a Telephone List

11. Retrieving Metadata

12. Working with Dates

13. Calculating a Median

14. Finding Extreme Values

15. Changing Running Statistics Midstream

16. Pivoting Results

17. Working with Hierarchies

About the Author

Chris Fehily is a statistician and author based in San Francisco.

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