Audience for This Book

We have two target audiences in mind for this book: those who have just recently learned SQL and those who have been using SQL for several years. This is not a learning-SQL type of book. We assume that you have a working knowledge of the basic SQL statements: INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and SELECT. We also assume that you are passingly familiar with Transact-SQL's procedural capabilities.

If you have recently learned SQL, then you know the basic statements. Next you need to learn how to "think SQL" to creatively apply SQL to the programming problems you encounter daily. This is difficult to teach; the creative application of SQL is best learned by example. The purpose of this book is to provide nonobvious examples of SQL being used creatively to solve everyday problems. You'll be able to apply our patterns to your own work, and hopefully you'll be inspired to discover creative solutions of your own.

This book isn't just for newcomers to SQL. We think an experienced SQL programmer will discover at least one new technique in this book. We have even learned from each other as coauthors by reading over each other's recipes.