This book is designed to get you started using the Advantage Database Server. It is organized into three sections. In the first section, you learn how Advantage gives you the performance of a world-class, relational, remote database server without the complexity normally associated with the client/server architecture. Topics discussed here include what is Advantage, what are your data access options, how to build tables and indexes, and how to setup a data dictionary in order to create a secure and feature-rich database.

In the second section, you learn the ins and outs of Advantage SQL, the particular dialect of ANSI/92 SQL used by the Advantage Database Server. And in the third section, you learn how to access your Advantage data from the most popular development environments, including Delphi, Java, Visual Basic, C#, and more.

The code download for this book includes code samples as well as a set of database files. As you progress through the chapters of Part 1 of this book, you will make modifications to this database, adding tables, indexes, a data dictionary, constraints, stored procedures, triggers, replication, and more. Each chapter contains step-by-step instructions that walk you through the process of creating these various objects. Consequently, in most cases, you will want to start this book from the beginning, and work your way through the chapters in sequence.

There is one thing to note about this database that you will be working with in this book. The examples described in this book do not add all of the objects that you would probably want to add to this database if you were creating a production application. For example, the step-by-step instructions only have you add the indexes that are necessary for the other objects you will create later in the book, such as referential integrity definitions.

In other words, if you were going to actually deploy this database, you would likely add many more indexes to this database than this book has you add. But that point, and other similar points related to the creation of objects, is made repeatedly throughout this book. For a real database, you create those objects that support the features that you want to implement in your client applications. Importantly, the chapters in Part 1 of this book explain what these features are, and show you how to define them.

If you have read our previous book on Advantage, you will notice some similarities between this book and that one. For example, in the previous book we worked hard to create an organization that was meaningful and easy to follow. We have adopted the same organization in this book.

Likewise, some of the descriptions and examples used in the previous book appear here as well. Let's face it, when something works, you have to go with it.

On then other hand, Advantage has improved, and we've gained additional insights into Advantage since the writing of the last book. As a result, some chapters have a very different focus than in the previous edition. In addition, some chapters are entirely new.

In short, we have tried to strike a balance between keeping quality material that has proved effective, while updating and improving wherever possible. We believe that you will be satisfied by the result.