Programming Books

8 Excellent Free Books to Learn SQL

Last Updated on February 21, 2023

4. PostgreSQL Documentation by The PostgreSQL Global Development Group

PostgreSQL Documentation is the official documentation of PostgreSQL. It has been written by the PostgreSQL developers and other volunteers in parallel to the development of the PostgreSQL software.

It describes all the functionality that the current version of PostgreSQL officially supports.

To make the large amount of information about PostgreSQL manageable, this book has been organized in several parts. Each part is targeted at a different class of users, or at users in different stages of their PostgreSQL experience:

  • Part I is an informal introduction for new users.
  • Part II documents the SQL query language environment, including data types and functions, as well as user-level performance tuning. Every PostgreSQL user should read this.
  • Part III describes the installation and administration of the server. Everyone who runs a PostgreSQLserver, be it for private use or for others, should read this part.
  • Part IV describes the programming interfaces for PostgreSQL client programs.
  • Part V contains information for advanced users about the extensibility capabilities of the server. Topics include user-defined data types and functions.
  • Part VI contains reference information about SQL commands, client and server programs. This part supports the other parts with structured information sorted by command or program.
  • Part VII contains assorted information that might be of use to PostgreSQL developers.

Read the manual


5. Structured Query Language (SQL): a Practical Introduction by Akeel I Din

Structured Query LanguageChapters cover:

  • Introduction.
  • A Rough Guide to SQL – presents an overview of the SQL language. The major commands are described from a functional point of view.
  • Creating and Maintaining Tables – starts by considering the DDL as defined by the ANSI/ISO standard. The later sections of this chapter describe how to create, alter and delete SQL tables.
  • Querying SQL Tables – the method of interrogating an SQL database.
  • Adding and Updating Data.
  • Data Integrity – looks at the concepts used by SQL to restrict the information that can be added to the database.
  • Views – introduce the reader to another database object; the view.
  • Database Security – looks at the security features that are built into SQL itself and also addresses some of the wider aspects of database security.
  • Transaction Processing.
  • The Database System Catalog – describes the structure and content of a typical system catalog by looking at the system tables of some popular commercial SQL DBMSs.
  • Embedding SQL in a Host Language – looks at the other method of using SQL, programmatic SQL.

The book is released under a free to use non-commercial license.

Read the book (unavailable)


6. A Primer on SQL by Rahul Batra

A Primer on SQLAs the title suggests, this book offers a gentle introduction to the basics of SQL.

The book is not a reference work.

This guide is open source, published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.

Read the book


Next page: Page 3 – SQL for Web Nerds and more books

Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Practical PostgreSQL and more books
Page 2 – PostgreSQL Documentation and more books
Page 3 – SQL for Web Nerds and more books


All books in this series:

Free Programming Books
AdaALGOL-like programming language, extended from Pascal and other languages
AgdaDependently typed functional language based on intuitionistic Type Theory
ArduinoInexpensive, flexible, open source microcontroller platform
AssemblyAs close to writing machine code without writing in pure hexadecimal
AwkVersatile language designed for pattern scanning and processing language
BashShell and command language; popular both as a shell and a scripting language
BASICBeginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
CGeneral-purpose, procedural, portable, high-level language
C++General-purpose, portable, free-form, multi-paradigm language
C#Combines the power and flexibility of C++ with the simplicity of Visual Basic
ClojureDialect of the Lisp programming language
ClojureScriptCompiler for Clojure that targets JavaScript
COBOLCommon Business-Oriented Language
CoffeeScriptTranscompiles into JavaScript inspired by Ruby, Python and Haskell
CoqDependently typed language similar to Agda, Idris, F* and others
CrystalGeneral-purpose, concurrent, multi-paradigm, object-oriented language
CSSCSS (Cascading Style Sheets) specifies a web page’s appearance
DGeneral-purpose systems programming language with a C-like syntax
DartClient-optimized language for fast apps on multiple platforms
DylanMulti-paradigm language supporting functional and object-oriented coding
ECMAScriptBest known as the language embedded in web browsers
EiffelObject-oriented language designed by Bertrand Meyer
ElixirRelatively new functional language running on the Erlang virtual machine
ErlangGeneral-purpose, concurrent, declarative, functional language
F#Uses functional, imperative, and object-oriented programming methods
FactorDynamic stack-based programming language
ForthImperative stack-based programming language
FortranThe first high-level language, using the first compiler
GoCompiled, statically typed programming language
GroovyPowerful, optionally typed and dynamic language
HaskellStandardized, general-purpose, polymorphically, statically typed language
HTMLHyperText Markup Language
IconWide variety of features for processing and presenting symbolic data
JArray programming language based primarily on APL
JavaGeneral-purpose, concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, high-level language
JavaScriptInterpreted, prototype-based, scripting language
JuliaHigh-level, high-performance language for technical computing
KotlinMore modern version of Java
LabVIEWDesigned to enable domain experts to build power systems quickly
LaTeXProfessional document preparation system and document markup language
LispUnique features - excellent to study programming constructs
LogoDialect of Lisp that features interactivity, modularity, extensibility
LuaDesigned as an embeddable scripting language
MarkdownPlain text formatting syntax designed to be easy-to-read and easy-to-write
Objective-CObject-oriented language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to C
OCamlThe main implementation of the Caml language
PascalImperative and procedural language designed in the late 1960s
PerlHigh-level, general-purpose, interpreted, scripting, dynamic language
PHPPHP has been at the helm of the web for many years
PostScriptInterpreted, stack-based and Turing complete language
PrologA general purpose, declarative, logic programming language
PureScriptSmall strongly, statically typed language compiling to JavaScript
PythonGeneral-purpose, structured, powerful language
QMLHierarchical declarative language for user interface layout - JSON-like syntax
RDe facto standard among statisticians and data analysts
RacketGeneral-purpose, object-oriented, multi-paradigm, functional language
RakuMember of the Perl family of programming languages
RubyGeneral purpose, scripting, structured, flexible, fully object-oriented language
RustIdeal for systems, embedded, and other performance critical code
ScalaModern, object-functional, multi-paradigm, Java-based language
SchemeA general-purpose, functional language descended from Lisp and Algol
ScratchVisual programming language designed for 8-16 year-old children
SQLAccess and manipulate data held in a relational database management system
Standard MLGeneral-purpose functional language characterized as "Lisp with types"
SwiftPowerful and intuitive general-purpose programming language
TclDynamic language based on concepts of Lisp, C, and Unix shells
TeXMarkup and programming language - create professional quality typeset text
TypeScriptStrict syntactical superset of JavaScript adding optional static typing
ValaObject-oriented language, syntactically similar to C#
VHDLHardware description language used in electronic design automation
VimLPowerful scripting language of the Vim editor
XMLRules for defining semantic tags describing structure ad meaning
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