SQL in Action: Hands-On Techniques and Real-World Case Studies for Building, Querying, and Optimizing Fast, Scalable Databases

By David C. Mains

If you're a developer, data engineer, or DBA looking to master every facet of professional SQL from airtight schema design through high-performance queries and rock-solid production practices, SQL in Action is your all-in-one, hands-on guide. You'll work through real-world case studies, interactive labs, and end-to-end projects that prove each concept in practice. By the last chapter, you'll be confidently designing, querying, optimizing, and operating databases that scale, perform, and withstand real-world demands.

Inside, you'll build and master: Schema fundamentals: primary, foreign, unique, and check constraints to enforce data integrityIndexing strategies: B-tree, covering, partial, and composite indexes tailored to your queriesCore query techniques: SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, LIMIT, IN, BETWEEN, and pattern matching for precise filtersAggregations and grouping: GROUP BY, HAVING, ROLLUP, CUBE, and GROUPING SETS for multidimensional roll-upsAdvanced SQL: Common Table Expressions (CTEs), window functions (ROW_NUMBER, LAG/LEAD, moving averages), and recursive queriesExecution plan analysis: EXPLAIN ANALYZE, identifying bottlenecks (scans, joins, sorts), and targeted rewritesPartitioning and sharding: range, list, hash, composite partitions; sharding keys and architectures for horizontal scale-outTransactions and ACID: isolation levels, lock contention, trigger-based balance enforcement, and two-phase commitsPerformance labs: benchmark slow reports, pre-aggregate with materialized views, and accelerate queries with targeted indexesScaling principles: vertical vs. horizontal scaling, read replicas, read/write splitting, and distributed SQL solutionsCI/CD for databases: versioned migrations, idempotent scripts, automated testing (unit, integration with Testcontainers), and safe deploymentsMonitoring & alerting: key metrics (latency, cache hit ratios, QPS), Prometheus/Grafana setups, and intelligent alert policiesSecurity & access control: least-privilege roles, row-level security, encrypted columns, and audit-trail designsReal-world case studies: booking platforms, social-app analytics, financial reporting, messaging systems, and capstone projectsWhether you're designing a transactional payment system, architecting a global analytics pipeline, or tuning a legacy data warehouse, SQL in Action gives you the proven patterns, step-by-step recipes, and deep insights you need to succeed in production environments.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FJMH1GY7
• ISBN13: 9798293651085
• Release Date: July 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.7" x 9.6"