Changes in the Second Edition
Although the ANSI standards committee released the current version of
SQL in 2003, called SQL2003, this book has grown dynamically in a
variety of new ways in response to request from our readers. In fact,
when you compare the first and second editions of SQL in a
Nutshell, you'll see that the second
edition is, in reality, an entirely new book. Here are more details
about changes in the second edition:
- New format
-
We've developed an entirely new format that reduces
redundancy and increases coverage for the SQL2003 standard and each
vendor's implementation. Rather than use the
expository style of the first edition, we've taken a
keyword description style that breaks all the keywords and clauses
into small, bite-sized entries.
- New database platforms
-
We've added full coverage for IBM's
DB2 UDB database platform running on Unix, Linux, and Windows. In
addition, we've added an appendix that describes
Sybase's implementation of the SQL commands, as they
differ from Microsoft SQL Server's implementation.
- Database programming
-
We've added a chapter that covers the basics of how
programmers can interface their frontend programs to the backend
database platforms covered in this book.
- More complete coverage
-
We've added many more examples and added SQL
commands not covered in the first edition. In addition,
we've added much more complete coverage for SQL
functions - in particular, vendor-specific functions that are
not part of the SQL2003 standard.
- More examples
-
You can never have too many examples. We've added
examples for the most basic uses of the commands under the SQL2003
headings, with even more examples that highlight the unique and
powerful extensions offered by each database platform.
|