Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, Third Edition

Appendix D. SQL Reference

There are dozens of different database management systems on the market today, from nearly as many vendors. Developing applications that are more or less database-independent requires a standardized interface to the underlying data. Since the early 1980s, this interface has been SQL, a sophisticated database manipulation language.^[70]

Unlike Java, SQL is a declarative language. It allows users to specify particular actions on the database and retrieve the results of those actions. It specifies a set of standardized data types and standard error messages, but it lacks procedural constructs. There are no conditionals or loops standard in SQL.

There are several versions of the SQL standard. SQL-86 and SQL-89 have been superceded by SQL-92, which is supported by most database vendors, although there are a number of platform-specific variations. Many databases also include additional data types, operators, and functions beyond those specified in the SQL-92 standard. In addition, there are three levels of SQL-92 conformance: entry-level, intermediate, and full. Many products support only the entry-level SQL-92 standard, leaving out some advanced features. JDBC drivers are supposed to provide entry-level functionality and, for the most part, they do.

This appendix presents a brief introduction to the structure of a relational database system and a quick reference to the most commonly used SQL commands. The complete set of SQL commands is simply too large to cover ...