SQL/T-SQL basics
In this part of the chapter, you will get an introduction about SQL language, or to be more precise, the Microsoft version T-SQL (Transact-SQL). Before we actually start to write code, we will cover some basics about language SQL and T-SQL syntax. This knowledge is applicable in all the chapters that will come later, especially in Chapter 4, Database in the Sandbox, and Chapter 5, Sample Databases.
History of SQL/TSQL
During the seventies, the IBM research centre in San Jose, California created a research team named System R based on Edgar F. Codd's article A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks. This later evolved into IBM System/38 in August of 1978. In 1986, the language SQL (Structured Query Language), became an ANSI standard and in 1987 it was accepted as an ISO standard. Today, almost 40 years later, SQL is de facto standard when we are talking about retrieving and data processing.
In order to successfully write queries against SQL Server databases, you...
