Hour 1. Welcome to the World of SQL

Welcome to the world of SQL and the vast, growing database technologies of today's businesses all over the world. By reading this book, you have begun accepting the knowledge that will soon be required for survival in today's world of relational databases and data management. Unfortunately, because it is first necessary to provide the background of SQL and cover some preliminary concepts that you need to know, the majority of this hour is text in paragraph format. Bear with the book; this will be exciting, and the "boring stuff" in this hour definitely pays off.

The highlights of this hour include

• An introduction to and brief history of SQL

• An introduction to database management systems

• An overview of some basic terms and concepts

• An introduction to the database used in this book