Databases can play an active role in validating and implementing business rules. Through triggers it is possible, in fact. to define rules to ensure data integrity and automation of critical operations. We will analyze their definition and the different types of triggers, focusing our attention on what is provided in Oracle. Through some practical examples, we will understand how to validate data and implement business rules without having to leave these aspects to applications.

In some scenarios, there is a need to store hierarchies within the database, such as the corporate organizational chart or product categories of an e-commerce store. Although relational databases allow hierarchies to be modeled appropriately, querying them can be difficult and burdensome. Recursive CTEs were introduced to address these needs. We will study their syntax and application through an example, not before also evaluating other technological alternatives such as NoSQL databases.

In the SQL language, it is possible to condition the execution of a query on the values of the tuples being parsed. This behavior is defined by correlation, that is, conditions in the WHERE clause of a nested query that relate to attributes of the tables in the outer query. Through some examples we will discover which operators use this construct, how to appropriately define correlations, and its alternatives.

Expressing complex queries in SQL language can be really difficult. Dividing the problem into mini-queries is the best strategy to get the desired results quickly without running into errors. Common Table Expressions, also called CTEs, allow the queries of our interest to be defined once to be reused multiple times when needed. Their clean syntax increases the readability of SQL scripts, allows us to debug written code and to create very complex logic to filter and extract data. Through some examples we will discover their potential.

In some contexts, it is necessary to compute intermediate results on which we then perform further operations, such as filtering, grouping, and calculating aggregate measures. The SQL language allows us to do this through the definition of derived tables, that is, SELECT statements defined within the FROM clause. Through some examples we will discover how to use them appropriately.

Sometimes we need to operate on the results of several queries as if they were sets. We do not have to use a programming language to do these operations on the data, but we can use constructs from the SQL language. The operators available allow us to both join and exclude the results two sets, as well as define the intersection. With some examples we will understand how to use these constructs appropriately.