Misc

Case sensitivity

• SQL is case insensitive

String literals

• Use single quotes
  

Conditionals

• case, nullif, coalesce, ...

SQL tuning

• Finding the fastest SQL statement for a given operation
• The most reliable approach is to try a number of SQL statements and compare the execution time
• It helps to have a general knowledge of how SQL statements work, how the DB is indexed, and how the DB engine is optimized
• There are no general rules of thumb that work in all cases
  

Sub-areas of SQL

Data Definition Language (DDL)

• Affects: tables, schema, catalogs, databases
• Commands: create, alter, drop

DML (Data Manipulation Language)

• Affects: records
• Commands: select, insert, update, delete

Data Control Language (DCL)

• Affects: privileges, transactions
• Commands: grant, revoke, commit, rollback

Misc

• Describe (shorthand for "show columns"): {describe | desc} tbl_name [col_name | wild]
• Show columns: show [full] columns from tbl_name [from db_name] [like 'pattern']
• Stored procedures
• Triggers