For all the buzz about trendy IT techniques, data processing is still at
the core of our systems, especially now that enterprises all over the
world are confronted with exploding volumes of data. Database performance
has become a major headache, and most IT departments believe that
developers should provide simple SQL code to solve immediate problems and

In The Art of SQL, author and SQL expert Stephane Faroult argues that
this "safe approach" only leads to disaster. His insightful book, named
after Art of War by Sun Tzu, contends that writing quick inefficient code
is sweeping the dirt under the rug. SQL code may run for 5 to 10 years,
surviving several major releases of the database management system and on
several generations of hardware. The code must be fast and sound from the
start, and that requires a firm understanding of SQL and relational

The Art of SQL offers best practices that teach experienced SQL users to
focus on strategy rather than specifics. Faroult's approach takes a page
from Sun Tzu's classic treatise by viewing database design as a military
campaign. You need knowledge, skills, and talent. Talent can't be taught,
but every strategist from Sun Tzu to modern-day generals believed that it
can be nurtured through the experience of others. They passed on their
experience acquired in the field through basic principles that served as
guiding stars amid the sound and fury of battle. This is what Faroult

Like a successful battle plan, good architectural choices are based on
contingencies. What if the volume of this or that table increases
unexpectedly? What if, following a merger, the number of users doubles?
What if you want to keep several years of data online? Faroult's way of
looking at SQL performance may be unconventional and unique, but he's
deadly serious about writing good SQL and using SQL well. The Art of SQL
is not a cookbook, listing problems and giving recipes. The aim is to get
you-and your manager-to raise good questions.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0596008945/

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