| How to Write Correct SQL and Know It: A Relational Approach to SQL |
Christopher J. Date is the world's best known relational advocate. His book An Introduction to Database Systems, currently in its 8th edition, is widely regarded as one of the fundamental texts on the subject. It has sold well over 700,000 copies, not counting translations, and it is used by several hundred colleges and universities worldwide. He is one of the inventors of our database industry. In this seminar, he shows you how to write SQL code that's logically correct; how to avoid various SQL traps and pitfalls; and, more generally, how to use SQL as if it were a true relational language. This seminar will benefit professionals using Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and DB2 systems alike.
Registration InformationThis is a one-time seminar that will be held in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas metroplex on January 26–28, 2010. The price is $1,875 USD per student. The seminar will make or break based upon the number of paid enrollments completed by Friday, December 4, 2009. If the number of paid enrollments has not reached our break-even requirement by that date, then we will refund 100% of your enrollment fee, by check, shortly thereafter. Write This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to sign up for the seminar. In your note, please let us know how you intend to pay: electronic funds transfer, corporate check, corporate purchase order, credit card, or PayPal. Your payment in one of these forms must be received by December 4, 2009 to qualify as an enrollment in our make-or-break decision. About This SeminarSQL is ubiquitous. But SQL is complicated, difficult, and error prone (much more so than SQL advocates would have you believe), and testing can never be exhaustive. So to have any hope of writing correct SQL, you must follow some discipline. What discipline? Answer: The discipline of using SQL relationally. But what does this mean? Isn't SQL relational anyway? Well, of course SQL is the standard language for use with relational databases, but that doesn't make it relational! The sad truth is, SQL departs from relational theory in all too many ways; duplicate rows and nulls provide two obvious examples, but they're not the only ones. Thus, systems based on SQL give you rope to hang yourself, as it were. So if you don't want to hang yourself, you need to understand relational theory (what it is and why); you need to know about SQL's departures from that theory; and you need to know how to avoid the problems they can cause. In a word, you need to use SQL relationally. Then you can behave as if SQL truly were relational, and you can enjoy the benefits of working with what is, in effect, a truly relational system. Of course, a seminar like this wouldn't be needed if everyone already used SQL relationally, but they don't. On the contrary, there's a huge amount of bad practice to be observed in current SQL usage. Such practice is even recommended in textbooks and other publications, by writers who really ought to know better; in fact, a review of the literature in this regard is a pretty dispiriting exercise. The relational model first saw the light of day in 1969, yet here we are, almost 40 years later, and it still doesn't seem to be very well understood by the database community at large. Partly for such reasons, this seminar uses the relational model itself as an organizing principle; it discusses various features of the model in depth, and shows in every case how best to use SQL to implement the feature in question. Note: Classroom exercises are an integral part of the seminar, and attendee discussion and interaction are encouraged. What You GetAttendees will receive:
ObjectivesOn completion of this seminar, attendees will:
Who Should AttendThis seminar is targeted to the following audiences:
The seminar is not meant for beginners. Attendees will be expected to have at least an elementary familiarity with database concepts in general and the SQL language in particular. Attendees will also be expected to attempt a number of pencil and paper exercises in class. Solutions to those exercises will be discussed in class as well. LocationThe seminar will be held in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas metroplex. We will announce a specific venue after the make-or-break date. ScheduleThe seminar will run 9:00am–4:30pm each day for three (3) days. Topic Outline
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