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My Review on Kindle:
3 or 4 stars depending on your goals
I am a retired Teradata DBA, and former Project Manager and Developer. I think I am qualified to give a review on this book from a technical perspective.
If you need a brief reminder of the most important commands/Statements in SQL, this will be an excellent and quick tool for getting your 'head' back in the game. However, as a tool for learning SQL, I think it is less successful.
My primary objections are that there isn't enough background information to give beginners an understanding of the underlying data principles upon which SQL was built. Things like how tables look, indexes, joins, etc. are given a very brief description with no discussion why they are important. Or, if they are, it is buried in the description of how to use the join syntax. Things like Venn diagrams explaining how joins work would be very helpful in explaining something like joins, I think.
Also, I think explaining how to use the alter command without explaining why you would want to do something like that, or when you would NOT want to do something like that, is dangerous for the beginner. In the computer business, I've learned that thinking you know or understand more than you actually do leads to a LOT of heartache. A little paranoia in a computer geek, isn't crazy, it is a valid survival skill!
In short, I think as a teaching tool this book is not ideal. There just isn't enough information in my mind. But like I said, as a sort of desktop reference tool, it is fine.
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