这本书不是让SQL变得容易，而是让SQL变得有挑战性，变得有趣，变得好玩。本书甚至回答了那个老问题：如何讲解无关联子查询而不会因此失去活下去的愿望？本书是正确的学习途径——快速、活泼、而且看上去很酷。

《深入浅出SQL》用最新的认知科学和学习理论打造多感官的学习体验，它运用丰富的视觉形式激发你的大脑工作，而不是密密麻麻的文字让你看了昏昏欲睡。

你将从本书学到什么？

在如今的世界，数据就是力量，但是成功的真正秘诀却是管理你的数据的力量。《深入浅出SQL》带你进入SQL语言的心脏地带，从使用INSERT和SELECT这些基本的查询语法到使用子查询（subquery）、连接（join）和事务（transaction）这样的核心技术来操作数据库。到读完本书之时，你将不仅能够理解高效数据库设计和创建，还能像一个专家那样查询、归一（normalizing）和联接数据。你将成为数据的真正主人。

Intro

　Who iS this book for?

 We know what you’re thinking

　Metacognition

　Bend your brain into submission

　Readmc

　The technical review team

　Acknowledgments

1 Data and Tables: A place for everything

 Defining your data

 Look at your data in categories

　What's in a database?

　Your database viewed through x-ray specs

　Databases contain connected data

　Tables Up Close

　Take command!

 Setting the table: the CREATE TABLE statement

 Creating a more complicated table

 Look how easy it is to write SQL

 Create the mycontacts table, finally

 Your table is ready

 Take a meeting with some data types

 Your table, DESCribed

 You can't recreate an existing table or database!

 Out with the old table, in with the new

 To add data to your table, you'll use the INSERT statement

 Create the INSERT statement

 Variations on an INSERT statement

 Columns without values

 Peek at your table with the SELECT statement

 SQL Exposed: Confessions of a NULL

 Controlling your inner NULL

 NOT NULL appears in DESC

 Fill in the blanks with DEFAULT

 Your SQL Toolbox

2 The SELECT Statement: Gifted data retrieval

　Date or no date?

　A better SELECT

　What the * is that?

 How to query your data types

 More punctuation problems

 Unmatched single quotes

 Single quotes are special characters

　INSERT data with single quotes in it

 SELECT specific columns to limit results

 SELECT specific columns for faster results

 Combining your queries

 Finding numeric values

 SmComparison Operators

 Finding numeric data with Comparison Operators

 Text data roping with Comparison Operators

 To be OR not to be

　The difference between AND and OR

　Use IS NULL to find NULLs

　Saving time with a single keyword: LIKE

　The call of the Wild(card)

　Selecting ranges using AND and comparison operators

　Just BETWEEN us... there's a better way

　After the dates, you are either IN...

　... or you are NOT IN

　More NOT

　Your SQL Toolbox

3 DELETE and UPDATE: A change will do you good

　Clowns are scary

　Clown tracking

　The clowns are on the move

　How our clown data gets entered

　Bonzo, we've got a problem

　Getting rid of a record with DELETE

　Using our new DELETE statement

　DELETE rules

　The INSERT-DELETE two step

　Be careful with your DELETE

　The trouble with imprecise DELETE

　Change your data with UPDATE

　UPDATE rules

　UPDATE is the new INSERT-DELETE

　UPDATE in action

　Updating the clowns' movements

　UPDATE your prices

　All we need is one UPDATE

　YOur SQL Tbolbox

4 Smart Table Design: Why be normal?

　Two fishy tables

　A table is all about relationships

　Atomic data

　Atomic data and your tables

　Atomic data rules

　Reasons to be normal

　The benefits of normal tables

　Clowns aren't normal

　Halfway to 1NF

　PRIMARY KEY rules

　Getting to NORMAL

　Fixing Greg's table

　The CREATE TABLE we wrote

　Show me the

　Time-saving command

　The CREATE TABLE with a PRIMARY KEY

　1, 2, 3... auto incrementally

　Adding a PRIMARY KEY to an existing table

　ALTER TABLE and add a PRIMARY KEY

　Your SQL Toolbox

5 ALTER: Rewriting the past

6 Advanced SELECT: Seeing your data with new eyes

7 Multi-table Database Design: Outgrowing your table

8 Joins and Multi-table Operations: Can’t we all just get along?

9 Subqueries: Queries Within Queries

10 Outer Joins, Self Joins, and Unions: New maneuvers

11 Constraints, Views, and Transactions: Too many cooks spoil the database

12 Security: Protecting your assets