Reviews for SQL in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

1. Good SQL reference book.

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, August 12th, 2002

   It is definitely not a book to learn SQL, however I found it useful as a reference point to translate a particular flavour of SQL into another flavour of SQL.

   Let's face it, just from the size of the book, we can quickly establish that it won't get into too much detail, but it is great for quickly looking up syntax if you can't quite pin point it in your mind.

   Not ideal for beginners.

2. Disappointing, but still a useful book

   Rated 2 out of 5 stars, July 12th, 2001

   I had hoped that this would be a concise but complete reference on building SQL statements, but it lacks some of the most basic explanations (try looking up UNION queries in the index - it's not there!!!). Disappointing, considering the many other 'In A Nutshell' series books I have are indespensible. This one reads more like a 'white paper' than a user reference book. Expensive too, considering how thin it is.

3. Too much detail on too few subjects

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 2001

   I was looking for a refernce book to tell me how to do things with SQL (in particular MySQL). Something I could turn to to find the right command or structure. Mostly it fails to help me with that. It seems to lack simple administration techniques, which is one thing I really wanted...

   It's good to compare main features of the covered SQL languages - MS, MySQL, Oracle, Postgre - but for the intermedate user there's too much detail on too few subjects.

4. Does exactly what it says on the tin

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, March 12th, 2001

   As with most O'Reilly books, this is meant to be a useful reference and not really a tutorial. As such it succeeds magnificantly and is good value for money. Especially useful if you are moving between database products.

5. Not a good reference

   Rated 2 out of 5 stars, March 12th, 2001

   This book is good if you want to see the differences between the different SQL products mentioned. As an 'In a Nutshell' reference however I thought it fell far short on explanatory detail and examples. Tries to cover too much in 214 pages.