This well-organized, easy-to-understand reference brings together 102 SQL-related skills and techniques that any developer can use to build DB2 applications that deliver consistently superior performance. Legendary DB2 tuning expert Tony Andrews ("Tony the Tuner") draws on more than 23 years of DB2-related experience, empowering developers to take performance into their own hands - whether they're writing new software or tuning existing systems. Andrews reveals the hidden truth about why DB2 queries, programs, and applications often perform poorly, and shows developers exactly how to clear the bottlenecks and resolve the problems. He fully reflects the latest DB2 SQL programming best practices up to and including DB2 V9 and DB2 V10 on z/OS: techniques that are taught in no other book, and are rarely covered in typical DB2 training courses. Drawing on his extensive consulting experience and highly-praised live training courses, he also presents an invaluable 10-step methodology for tuning virtually any DB2 query. Coverage includes: * Systematically identifying and fixing poorly coded programs or improperly coded SQL statements * Understanding and taking advantage of Runstat options * Adding or altering indexes * Understanding and leveraging the latest SQL standards and guidelines * Effectively utilizing Existence Checking, and much more