For all the buzz about trendy IT techniques, data processing is still at the core of our systems, especially now that enterprises all over the world are confronted with exploding volumes of data. Database performance has become a major headache, and most IT departments believe that developers should provide simple SQL code to solve immediate problems and let DBAs tune any "bad SQL" later. In "The Art of SQL", author and SQL expert, Stephane Faroult argues that this "safe approach" only leads to disaster. His insightful book, named after "Art of War" by Sun Tzu, contends that writing quick inefficient code is sweeping the dirt under the rug. SQL code may run for 5 to 10 years, surviving several major releases of the database management system and on several generations of hardware. The code must be fast and sound from the start, and that requires a firm understanding of SQL and relational theory. "The Art of SQL" offers best practices that teach experienced SQL users to focus on strategy rather than specifics. Faroult's approach takes a page from Sun Tzu's classic treatise by viewing database design as a military campaign. You need knowledge, skills, and talent. Talent can't be taught, but every strategist from Sun Tzu to modern-day generals believed that it can be nurtured through the experience of others. They passed on their experience acquired in the field through basic principles that served as guiding stars amid the sound and fury of battle. This is what Faroult does with SQL. Like a successful battle plan, good architectural choices are based on contingencies. What if the volume of this or that table increases unexpectedly? What if, following a merger, the number of users doubles? What if you want to keep several years of data online? Faroult's way of looking at SQL performance may be unconventional and unique, but he's deadly serious about writing good SQL and using SQL well. "The Art of SQL" is not a cookbook, listing problems and giving recipes. The aim is to get you - and your manager - to raise good questions.

Stéphane Faroult从1983年开始接触关系数据库。Oracle法国成立早期他即加入（此前是短暂的IBM经历和渥太华大学任教生涯），并在不久之后对性能和调优产生了兴趣。1988年他离开了Oracle，此后一年间，他进行调整，并研究过运筹学。之后，他重操旧业，一直从事数据库咨询工作，并于1998年创办了RoughSea公司（http://www. roughsea.com）。

Stéphane Faroult出版了Fortran Structuré et Méthodes Numériques一书（法语，Dunod出版社，1986, 与Didier Simon合作），并在Oracle Scene和Select（分别为英国和北美Oracle用户组杂志）以及Oracle杂志在线版上发表了许多文章。他还是美国、英国、挪威等众多用户组大会的演讲者。

Peter Robson毕业于达拉谟大学地质专业（1968年），然后在爱丁堡大学任教，并于1975年获得地质学研究型硕士学位。在希腊度过了一段地质学家生涯之后，他开始在纽卡斯尔大学专攻地质和医学数据库。

他使用数据库始于1977年，1981年开始使用关系数据库，1985年开始使用Oracle，这期间担任过开发工程师、数据架构师、数据库管理员等角色。1980年，Peter参加了英国地质普查，负责指导使用关系数据库管理系统。他擅长SQL系统，以及从组织级到部门级的数据建模。Peter多次出席英国、欧洲、北美的Oracle数据库大会，在许多数据库专业杂志上发表过文章。他现任英国Oracle用户组委员会主任，可通过peter.robson@justsql.com联系他。