Simple SQL: Pt. 2 - Page 3

Summing Up

To sum up, here is a basic reference to the SQL statements we've covered:

SELECT Statements

SELECT (FIELDS) FROM (TABLE)
WHERE (CONDITION)
GROUP BY (COLUMN)

UPDATE Statements

UPDATE (TABLE)
SET (COLUMN) = (VALUE)
WHERE (CONDITION)

INSERT Statements

INSERT INTO (TABLE)
(COLUMN1), (COLUMN2), (COLUMN3) etc.
VALUES (VALUE1), (VALUE2), (VALUE3), etc.

Remember that most SQL queries end with a semicolon, and to check your documentation on the preferred wildcard (asterisk or percentage symbol). Both of these are extremely important.

By now you hopefully understand the basics of the SQL language. While I've covered quite a bit in a short time, there are other features of SQL we did not cover. For those features and statements, it's a good idea to purchase a SQL reference guide. I'm partial to SAMS Publishing's "Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days" as it covers not only an overview of SQL, but details the specifics of many SQL servers.

Now that you have the basics down, the next part in this series will cover using SQL statements in Visual InterDev 6.0 and the Drumbeat Web application development environments.

References:

"Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days, Second Edition"
SAMS Publishing (c) 1997
ISBN 0-672-31110-0

SQL Servers:

Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft NT Platform only

Sybase SQL Server
Windows NT, Linux, various other platforms

Oracle
Windows NT,Linux, various other platforms

Informix
Windows NT, Linux, other platforms

MySQL (free for Linux users)
Linux and Windows platforms

Ted Brockwood is the Information Services Manager for a real estate listing service in Oregon. His experience covers Java, Linux, UNIX, NT, Win95/98, Win3.x, and DOS.