Introduction to the language kernel from SQL-99 (Q4494693)

Einführung in den Sprachkern von SQL-99 (Introduction to the Language Kernel of SQL-99) is among the first German-language titles about the latest version of the standardized relational database language SQL, which after a long waiting time finally came out in 1999. SQL-99 differs from previous editions of the language in that the distinction between Entry, Intermediate, and Full SQL has been abandoned. Entry-level SQL has been replaced by Core SQL, which is the portion of the standard a database system vendor has to be compliant with. It is this core (or kernel) that the book is about. The book has three major parts: Introduction and fundamentals, SQL for end users, and SQL and application design. In each part, the relevant SQL syntax is explained in detail, yet the intensity (and the density) of examples decreases as the text goes along. An important achievement and novelty in SQL-99, the object-relational extensions and hence user-defined types and functions, is described pretty briefly only. Here the reader keeps waiting for a longer and more detailed application example. On the other hand, the book clearly saves reading through long and boring standards documentation, so that a vendor's manual, which will deviate from the standard anyway, can be approached next. A helpful addition would have been an SQL grammar describing the most relevant constructs, which can become very complex, in a concise manner.