Ah Håkan, =A man(?) after my own heart! When I was at school (and bored out of my skull) I was always trying to figure out where the 'Readers Digest Condensed Edition' of our text books was...
I am new to databases and SQL and find the language rich and interesting. It seems to me, however, that there are quite a few redundant elements and that the language is the result of quite a few compromises. There are not less than 233 keywords in MySQL. Is there any preferred way to write SQL-statements? Is there any purist or minimalist view? =I'm not sure if there is such a view, per-se, but greater minds might know... =Typically text books will simplify a language and only cover a sub-set. Typically they will begin with the most straight-forward/basic/easily understood commands, eg SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and leave the more 'dangerous' ones until later, eg DELETE. =BTW I've just laid out about half of SQL's commands - are you including all the clause keywords in that 233 count? The utter simplicity of the half-dozen DML (data manipulation language) commands are one of the most attractive/mathematically-elegant features of the language. =Next question: which book. Check out "MySQL" by Paul DuBois - you can even catch him, right here on the list! Also the online manual features a tutorial section. =Regards, =dn --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
