Table of Contents

Part I: Learning the Essentials. Chapter 1: Accessing the Database. Chapter 2: Retrieving Data. Chapter 3: Inserting Data. Chapter 4: Updating Data. Chapter 5: Deleting Data. Chapter 6: Creating Tables. Chapter 7: Creating Databases. Part II: Building Skills. Chapter 8: Using Operators. Chapter 9: Using Functions. Chapter 10: Building Subqueries. Chapter 11: Building Views. Chapter 12: Building Stored Procedures. Chapter 13: Programming in Stored Procedures. Chapter 14: Using Parameters. Chapter 15: Using Cursors. Chapter 16: Building Unions. Part III: Mastering SQL. Chapter 17: Solving Practical Problems. Chapter 18: Combining Views and Subqueries to Select Data. Chapter 19: Combining Views and Subqueries to Update Data. Chapter 20: Building Complex Stored Procedures. Chapter 21: Optimizing SQL Performance. Appendix: The Critical SQL Desk Reference.

About the Author

Forrest Houlette is a computer writer and consultant and president of Write Environment, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in Visual Basic software development, custom documentation, training, and software for both education and business. Forrest focuses on writing about computers and creating custom software. He is a former Learning Tree International instructor, for whom he taught courses Windows 95, Windows NT, Office 97, and Visual. He has authored or co-authored books for IDG, New Riders Publishing, Que, and Sybex. He is also a Microsoft Certified Product Specialist.