Maybe a little disorganized, but overall a pretty good reference. Lots of odd omissions though. For instance, the SUBSTR function can take negative number parameters but that is not shown. In the numeric functions, where are the GREATEST and LEAST functions? There is a list of conversion functions but no examples. If you've ever pulled your hair out over a deeply nested DECODE, you know some good examples would be nice. A few of the SQL*Plus SET commands are scattered here and there, but there is no list.
Bottom line... not bad but needs more work.

Oracle Database 10g SQL - Is a good book to read or reference concepts in detail. Author has covered good amount of concepts from basics of SQL to advanced SQL queries. But we were disappointed to find that the book doesn't come with exercises at the end of each chapter to practice and play on the concepts understood.

It is a very good book for both who are beginning to learn SQL from scratch or those who are not too familiar with Oracle SQL databases. It introduces a lot of new 10g functionalities. Examples are given in almost most functions for easy understanding of practical usage. However, the book does not explain enough about the concept of storage about the Oracle 10g.

The book is good for beginners, especially who do not know SQL. The book talked about basic SQL syntax, and SQL Plus at the beginning. It also covers advanced SQL at the second part which I just ignored.

The disorganization of topics is staggering. It covers a number of useful aspects about using Oracle SQL, but it fails to develop complete ideas. It can serve as a quick reference to moderately skilled programmers but so can the Oracle docs.

Beginners may wish to try Learning SQL by Alan Beaulieu, and intemediates are better off with Oracle by Example by Alice Rischert, alas old hack are still looking for a book.

Good Points:
- Identifies the deference between ANSI/86 and ANSI/92, albeit in an indexed note on page #46. An improvement over labeling ANSI/86 as Oracle Proprietary syntax like another author does in a competing book.
- SQL*Plus does show how to set a default editor.
- Nice coverage of ROLLUP, CUBE, RANK, and MODEL functions.
- While mislabeled as security (alternatively, missing content), the concept of roles, privileges, grants and synonyms is covered well in Chapter 9.
- System reference cursors are covered at the basic level adequately.
- There is an introduction to large objects but narrowly explored without useful examples.

Weaknesses:
- Non-equijoins are not well explained or demonstrated in Chapter 2.
- Aggregation functions and behaviors are incompletely developed and limited to rather small examples in Chapter 3 without a nice reference to the other treatment in Chapter 7.
- The SQL*Plus coverage should be more toward the front, and it presume a knowledge of the environment - clearly a bumpy road for a beginner.
- The concept of scalar subqueries is missing, a single row subquery that returns a single column.
- ANY and ALL are covered but not SOME, while they all work similarly the coverage is incomplete.
- The differences between subqueries and correlated subqueries is not well developed. The key difference that a correlated subquery resolves for NULL values is an aside on page #176. The tuning chapter on page #537 and tip on page #175 fail to qualify when you should use correlation.
- The DECODE and CASE statements have limited demonstration only in SQL statements, and the idea of merged and conditional inserts is limited to two pages in Chapter 8.
- PL/SQL coverage is a like hopscotch and the Oracle documentation a better guide, especially to a newbie.
- How to select the fields from a nested object or collection is missing.
- Collections in Chapter 13 are dizzy and a comic relief of Johnny Depp reprise with scissors should snip the chapter out.
- High performance tuning in Chapter 16 is missing.

I would highly recommend this reference for anyone. Organized well, good examples, and thorough.

This book is very good. I've had the book for a month now, and use it every day. It is good because it covers both SQL and PL/SQL, as well as all the latest Oracle 10g database features.

I have a number of other Oracle books, and this one is the one I like best. I also liked the reference section which covers all the main Oracle database functions along with real examples. The book is also an easy read.

Hands down the best book on Oracle SQL currently available.

Like the previous version, this is even better written. For starters to PL/SQL I recommend PL/SQL 101 and this.

Great work Scott Urman.

Like the previous version, this is even better written. For starters to PL/SQL I recommend PL/SQL 101 and this.

Great work Scott Urman.

I have three SQL and PL/SQL books, but this one is the only one I actually _use_ on a daily basis. It's a great book because it acts as both a training guide and reference book.

It also covers PL/SQL in addition to SQL.

I have three SQL and PL/SQL books, but this one is the only one I actually _use_ on a daily basis. It's a great book because it acts as both a training guide and reference book.

It also covers PL/SQL in addition to SQL.

I liked this book because it covers Oracle 10g SQL as well as PL/SQL, that's great because it saved me buying two separate books!

I was able to download the code from the website and follow along with all the examples with no problem. I especially liked the coverage of the 10g specific features, such as the new MODEL clause and the new 10g database types (BINARY_DOUBLE and BINARY_FLOAT).

All in all, a great book.

This is a good book. It teaches the basics and advanced uses of SQL. I'd already used SQL and Oracle before, and found the advanced chapters on tuning and the use of large objects and advanced analytical functions.

I downloaded the Zip file from the Oracle Press web site and had the example database up and running in minutes. I didn't have any problems running any of the examples shown in the book.

I also liked the coverage of PL/SQL included in the book. Saved me from buying a book on Oracle 10g PL/SQL. This book even has a chapter on running SQL from within a Java program using JDBC!

I must write a review to counter the previous reviewer's incorrect comments! I've had this book four weeks and run through all the examples, and they all work.

All the technical descriptions in the book are right on, too. I had no problems understanding the advanced material on Oracle 10g, which covered the right areas on SQL and PL/SQL.

I am disappointed with this book because the following reasons:

- A good portion of the book is dedicated to teach basic SQL to beginners, yet the examples provided ... leave the reader confused.

- The book spends volumes explaining the obvious (obvious even to beginners), yet leave out the important details that enable the reader to fully understand. Many times the book fail to explain the differences between various Oracle functions.

- Too little on 10g. Only a few pages on regular expressions search. Very unsatisfactory examples on PL/SQL. ...

Overall, I get the feeling that the author does not fully understand the topic he is trying to write on.

Don't know about it transforming you into a PL/SQL expert (you wouldn't be much of an expert...), but it is a good SQL book. Amazingly enough, the examples actually work...more than I can say for the last SQL book I bought.

This is the best book on SQL I've found. It has everything I needed: it teaches Oracle from the ground up. I didn't know SQL or PL/SQL before buying this book, and now I'm an expert! I even understood the advanced chapters. I give this book full marks and highly recommend it.

I just bought this book, and I really like it. It covers SQL and PL/SQL (a major plus point, since I didn't have to buy an extra book on PL/SQL!).

I found the examples easy to follow, and I was able to follow along with them using my own 10g database using the scripts I downloaded from the book's website.

I also liked the tuning chapter, which gave me some tips I didn't already know about.