The right SQL books will help us to understand the fundamentals of starting our SQL career. In addition, the intermediate or advanced books will help us to master SQL and avoid common mistakes. There are many books on the internet that are just spinning information that can be found easily on the internet. Below are some of the most helpful books to learn SQL.
1. SQL QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Managing, Analyzing, and Manipulating Data with SQL by Walter Shields:
This book is ideal for those seeking to improve their job prospects and advance their careers, as well as developers seeking to enhance their programming skills and anyone who wants to take full advantage of the data-driven future — even without coding experience! This book is very easy to understand and learn the basics in a short amount of time. Good examples for beginners and experienced people who want to learn SQL.
2. SQL All-in-One For Dummies by Allen G. Taylor:
SQL All-In-One for Dummies is a comprehensive guide to SQL and SQL-based databases. The SQL language and its many powerful applications are explained in a clear, concise manner, making it accessible to everyone from database administrators to application programmers and the people who manage them. Since there is a massive amount of data out there, more and more businesses convert their spreadsheets to databases like Access, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle databases, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.
3. SQL in 10 Minutes a Day, Sams Teach Yourself by Ben Forta:
Good working knowledge of SQL is vital to anyone interacting with databases, whether they are database administrators, web developers, mobile app developers, or Microsoft Office users. The Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes offers clear and practical guidance. It is easy to read, well laid out, and the interactive exercises are useful for practicing.
4. Learning SQL: Generate, Manipulate, and Retrieve Data by Alan Beaulieu:
The new edition of this introductory guide helps developers become familiar with SQL basics needed to write database applications, complete administrative tasks, and generate reports. We’ll find new chapters on SQL and big data, analytic functions, and working with very large databases. Each chapter presents a self-contained lesson on a key SQL concept using numerous illustrations. The book tries to find a middle ground between some basic background knowledge of SQL and some of the more advanced features that will allow us to excel.
5. SQL for Data Analytics: Perform fast and efficient data analysis with the power of SQL by Upom Malik, Matt Goldwasser, and Benjamin Johnston:
SQL for Data Analytics helps us to build the skills to move beyond basic SQL and instead learn to spot patterns and explain the logic hidden in data. We’ll discover how to explore and understand data by identifying trends and unlocking deeper insights. We’ll also gain experience working with different types of data in SQL, including time-series, geospatial, and text data. Finally, we’ll learn how to increase your productivity with the help of profiling and automation. This book is suitable for data scientists or business analysts who want to improve their data analytics skills using SQL.
6. Practical SQL, 2nd Edition: A Beginner’s Guide to Storytelling with Data by Anthony DeBarros:
The Practical SQL Guide is a quick and easy guide to SQL, the standard programming language for defining, organizing, and exploring data in relational databases. We’ll first cover the fundamentals of databases and the SQL language, and then build skills by analyzing data from real-world datasets. Every chapter contains exercises and examples that teach even those who have never programmed before how to build powerful databases and access information quickly and efficiently.
7. SQL: Learn SQL (using MySQL) in One Day and Learn It Well. SQL for Beginners with Hands-on Project by LCF Publishing and Jamie Chan:
With this book, we can learn SQL in just one day and start coding immediately. Topics are broken down into simple steps. The book provides examples for all concepts explained so we can experiment with the different SQL commands. We cover everything from database creation to table creation, to data input, manipulation, and retrieval.
8. Head First SQL: Your Brain on SQL — A Learner’s Guide by Lynn Beighley:
The Head First SQL course will show us the basics of SQL and how to take advantage of it. INSERT statements, SELECT queries, indices, and joins will be demonstrated, as well as transaction processing. Great for a beginner learning MySQL syntax. This is an engaging, interactive, and fun way to learn SQL. A new learner will not find it overwhelming because it’s lean, with lots of white space.
9. Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Covers Versions Through Oracle Database by Steven Feuerstein and Bill Pribyl:
This definitive guide to Oracle PL/SQL programming is widely considered the best by the Oracle community. Many PL/SQL developers have benefited from this book over the last twenty years. An engaging book filled with code examples and a lively sense of humor, this book explains language fundamentals, explores advanced coding techniques, and offers best practices for resolving real-world problems.
10. Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days by Ryan K. Stephens and Ronald R. Plew:
This book has been specifically written for those who want to learn SQL in a short time and start using it immediately. This SQL book is not only useful for beginners, but for those who want to brush up on their skills before an interview or at work. A major benefit of the book is that it presents a time frame in which to learn this language, thereby acting as a major motivator for those who have no idea how long it will take to learn a language. So everything you need to know from the foundation to the zenith is all in one book.
11. SQL Queries for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL by John Viescas:
As of now, this is the main SQL book to use to learn SQL. We will be able to create clear ideas about how to accomplish a task after reading this book. The book explains the principles and techniques clearly and concisely. It provides a step-by-step, easy to comprehend guide to composing SQL queries.
12. SQL Pocket Guide: A Guide to SQL Usage by Alice Zhao:
This popular pocket guide is the ideal reference for data analysts, data scientists, and data engineers who use SQL in their daily work. The book includes many examples that address the language’s complexities, as well as key aspects of SQL in Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle Database, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. The author of this updated edition describes how these database management systems implement SQL syntax for querying and changing databases.
13. MySQL in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference by Russell J. T. Dyer:
The most popular open-source database in the world is MySQL. It has an abundance of features. In this book, a data administrator or a programmer can explore the full breadth of MySQL’s capabilities. There is no better MySQL book than this one that contains all the necessary details conveniently gathered under one roof, which will enable us to learn all the facts we need to truly master MySQL.
14. The Definitive Guide to MySQL 5 by Michael Kofler:
MySQL offers an impressive array of new features, including views, stored procedures, triggers, and spatial data types. These features can be accessed by anyone without prior knowledge of SQL or database design. The book begins with a detailed introduction to installing MySQL, Apache, PHP, and Perl under Windows and Linux.
15. SQL Cookbook: Query Solutions and Techniques for Database Developers by Anthony Molinaro :
It is a fact that SQL is a deceptively simple language to learn, and most database developers never go much beyond SELECT columns FROM table WHERE conditions. But SQL is capable of so much more than that. In the SQL Cookbook, the author shares his favourite SQL techniques and features for the experienced developer.
16. SQL in easy steps by Mike McGrath:
The book begins by explaining how to download and install the free MySQL database server on both Windows and Linux platforms. This allows us to establish an environment in which to develop and administer databases. Each chapter builds our knowledge of executing database queries. Each chapter of this book presents complete examples that illustrate each aspect of SQL and explains how to extract data from one, or more, databases. The book is suitable for those with little or no experience with SQL.
17. Learn SQL by Examples: Examples of SQL Queries and Stored Procedures for MySQL and Oracle by Sergey Skudaev:
SQL is an essential tool for the developer who is coding in any computer language. This universal language is domain-specific and is used in programming and managing data, stream processing, modifying data in a database, or searching and retrieving data from one. Now, with this new book, Learn SQL by Examples: Examples of SQL Queries, Stored Procedures for MySQL, and Oracle Databases, we can develop a deeper understanding of SQL to help us to streamline our business or home office.
18. SQL: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Learn SQL Programming Step-by-Step by Mark Reed:
A handy book with all the information in one place. Inside SQL: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Learn SQL Programming Step by Step, we’ll find a comprehensive guide to get started, including chapters on:
- Understanding databases & database management systems
- Using queries to obtain data
- SQL joins and union
- Ensuring data integrity
- Creating an SQL view
- How to modify and control a table.
19. Oracle Database 11g SQL by Jason Price:
Learn how to access Oracle databases using SQL statements and to build PL/SQL programs with Oracle expert Jason Price. The Oracle Database 11g SQL book, published by Oracle Press, explains how to retrieve and modify database information, use SQL Plus and SQL Developer, work with database objects, and write PL/SQL programs. This book covers the most recent SQL features and tools, performance optimization techniques, advanced queries, Java support, and XML.
20. SQL: Tips and Tricks to Learn SQL Programming quickly and efficiently by Daniel Jones:
SQL is meant to be user-friendly and time-efficient. It is also said to be more user-friendly than Microsoft Excel. Throughout this book, we’ll learn a few things that are supposed to make using SQL easier.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you can find the SQL book that is most suitable for you among these. As a developer, if you use SQL often, if you are just learning SQL or if you have been using SQL for a while, you can take a look through these books to improve your SQL skills. We recommend that you look at the beginner’s guide to SQL so that you can pick up some new things you didn’t know before.