Microsoft Access 2003 Forms, Reports, and Queries

Rating:
Summary: learn SQL
Review: McFedries has essentially produced a first course on SQL, using Microsoft Access as the user interface into a relational database. There are sections of the book about fairly simple UI controls and their usages. Like how to change fonts or colours. Mundane stuff.

But the book goes much deeper. It shows how Access can teach you much about many relational database topics. Table relationships, referential integrity, multiple table queries, table joins and so on. En route, the author gently introduces examples of SQL queries. The full syntax of which is complex enough to deter many new users. But by seeing the queries used in many simple contexts should help your retention.

So the book serves two purposes. The first is to learn Access. The second is to learn SQL and relational databases, using Access just as a means to an end.