Learning SPARQL
Querying and Updating with SPARQL 1.1
"I buy it and give it away at every course I teach on the semantic web. It is a well-written and entirely practical way into this world. You can explore a significant portion of the concepts without having to set anything up. I have seen no better way to get started."
- Brian Sletten, Bosatsu Consulting and author of Resource-Oriented Architecture Patterns for Webs of Data
"It's excellent—very well organized and written, a completely painless read. I not only feel like I understand SPARQL now, but I have a much better idea why RDF is useful (I was a little skeptical before!)."
- Priscilla Walmsley, author of O'Reilly's "XQuery"
"You really did a great job. Not only does your book explain SPARQL well but also all the 'semantic web stuff' around it. I'm using it right now at a customer site."
- Jans Aasman, President and CEO, Franz Inc.
"Highly recommended for anybody consuming GoodRelations data."
"Well organized, progresses well and has great examples."
"With SPARQL, the semantic web has its SQL, and is definitely the richer for it. And with the publication of Bob's book, all the more so."
"An excellent introduction for those who want to start using this powerful tool."
"It comprehensively leads one through the why and wherefore of SPARQL and provides a thorough grounding in the vocabulary and practice of employing SPARQL to start to benefit from the growing world of Linked Data."
"I had always know that SPARQL would be similar to SQL due to the fact that they are both query languages, but I did not realize how powerful SPARQL queries could be and all the great functions that are provided in the language until reading Bob DuCharme book Learning SPARQL."
The W3C standard query language SPARQL is letting people access a growing collection of public and private data. Whether this data is part of a semantic web project or a combination of data from two relational databases on different platforms, SPARQL is making it easier to access this data using both open source and commercial software. "Learning SPARQL" teaches you how to use SPARQL 1.1 by starting you off with simple queries that demonstrate the language's query-by-example approach and then taking you through all the key features of the SPARQL 1.1 query and update languages. All example code is provided for you to run yourself with free software, and the book's table of contents and detailed index lets you use it as a reference book long after you've finished working through its examples.
news
June 2: A new, expanded edition of "Learning SPARQL" is on the way!
2012
December 18: According to the BestBuy.com's Announcing BBYOpen Metis Alpha: Best Buy Product Catalog via Semantic Endpoints, "the Metis Alpha gives developers the ability to consume and query structured data via SPARQL (get up to speed with Learning SPARQL by Bob DuCharme), enabling the discovery of insight hidden deep inside the product catalog."
October 21: Only just now found David Witherspoon's review of "Learning SPARQL" from last November.
September 21: "Learning SPARQL" on the shelf at Blackwell's flagship store in Oxford, UK (founded 1879):
June 8: A shelf somewhere among the web development team at bestbuy.com:
May 21: New review of "Learning SPARQL" by Julien Plu. (In French; scroll down a bit after following link.)
2011
November 20: Read Liam Green-Hughes' review of "Learning SPARQL."
October 13: John Erickson (@olyerickson) has based the label for his new batch of homebrew on the cover of "Learning SPARQL":
September 28: I've only just learned that you can buy the book through iTunes so that you can read it on an iPad, iPhone, and iPad touch.
September 15: Read Dave McComb's review on semanticarts.com.
September 1: Read the "Free Yor Data" blog's review of the book.
August 8: "Learning SPARQL" is now available for the Kindle.
August 6: Read Shawn Day's review of "Learning SPARQL."
July 26: The ebook and print editions of "Learning SPARQL" are now available from O'Reilly, and print editions are available from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, maybe some more Amazons, and Barnes and Noble. (Borders says that it's on backorder, but I wouldn't hold your breath for that.)
July 15: The ebook version of "Learning SPARQL" is now available on the O'Reilly page! The print edition is scheduled to be available July 19th. Subscribe to the @LearningSPARQL twitter feed to stay updated on the book and on other SPARQL news.
tweets about "Learning SPARQL"
@krishnanandnb @bobdc by the way Bob your book learning SPARQL thought me more about semanticweb that just SPARQL. my guru recommends it for everybody. 13 Oct
@SPARQLr "Learning SPARQL" book arrived this morning, goal this evening is to write my first query! I also need to get rid of my twitter egg :( 24 Sep
@philarcher1 Just want to say thank you to @bobdc for writing the SPARQL book in such a way as to quickly return true for all my "can I do this" queries. 7 Sep
@tayfou Je viens d'acheter : Learning SPARQL' de Bob DuCharme via @amazonkindle http://amzn.to/NDugIy 15 Aug
@usyd_dpa Nice introduction to SPARQL and linked data in "Learning SPARQL" http://tiny.cc/z3ggiw 3 Aug
@SindiceTech @LearningSPARQL @duncan_ids @timdavies we bought a good number of copies ourself :) 18 Jul
@stefroelandt Great book! @nopiedra: RT @jaymyers: "Learning SPARQL" is the latest addition to our developer bookshelf \cc @bobdc pic.twitter.com/n8t1agLY 8 Jun
@MatthewJBrown @jaymyers It's the best. It has Timbaland example queries. @bobdc FTW. 8 Jun
@jaymyers "Learning SPARQL" is the latest addition to our developer bookshelf \cc @bobdc @learningsparql pic.twitter.com/XUSkpLxp 8 Jun
@monkeychap @theno23 recommended http://www.amazon.com/Learning-SPARQ . for new recruits .#SemTechBiz. 5 Jun
@websunivalle Recomendado para aprender a usar SPARQL. http://www.learningsparql.com 9 May
@mcordioli Is the age of #sparql. Reading http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920020547 learning sparql 22 Apr
@Youdaman @_aaronackerman_ I recommend O'Reilly books Programming the Semantic Web and Learning SPARQL -- this stuff is the next wave for data and www 14 Apr
@zazi__ Finally a hot UK import arrived @ my home "Learning SPARQL" written by Bob DuCharme (@bobdc) #SPARQL #LinkedData #QueryLanguage #SemanticWeb 9 Mar
@FicoYPlaca Mi nueva biblia es Learning SPARQL. :) 21 Feb
@jendas Zajimalo by me, kde O'Reilly bere ty zvirata. http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/learning-sparql/id452522826?mt=11 http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/practical-rdf/id396872094?mt=11 17 Feb
@Youdaman Bob DuCharme: semweb, xml etc. http://bit.ly/zoMHhJ -- Semantic Web (and XML) stuff by @bobdc, the author of Learning SPARQL (good book btw) 27 Jan
@blakeAlbion I just bought: 'Learning SPARQL' by Bob DuCharme via @amazon http://t.co/w43tnolg 12 Jan
@knutkj if you want to learn bout #RDF then start with Learning #SPARQL and then continue with Programming the #Semantic #Web . both from O'Reilly. 2 Jan
2011
@stuartbrown @bobdc thanks! just working my way through your sparql book at the moment. great work! practicing on data.open.ac.uk 30 Dec
@knutkj reading Learning #SPARQL .. #semantics #web .. 28 Dec
@jindrichmynarz Finished reading "Learning SPARQL" by @bobdc. It was a good primer for #SPARQL. http://bit.ly/rpfM6t 6 Dec
@jindrichmynarz "Learning SPARQL" finally got a nice LCC notation: QA76 .73 .S63 D84 2011 29 Nov
@gb_Lucas Today I finished Bob DuCharme's really nice book about semantic databases. Check it at http://learningsparql.com @chemeris #learningsparql 28 Nov
@olyerickson Including cover shot of @bobdc's "Learning #SPARQL" book in lecture slides... 17 Nov
@gb_Lucas No sólo hay que abrir datos sino hacerlo en modo adecuado para poder relacionarlos - SPARQL http://learningsparql.com/ #periodismodatos 16 Nov
@WebDeveloper1 @LearningSPARQL Thanks for a great and useful book. 13 Nov
@wholewheattoast Reading through bits of Learning SPARQL and several simple great ideas to improve our implementation at ORM jumped out at me. 31 Oct
@liamgh Enjoying the "Learning SPARQL" book, but it is slow going as there is a *lot* of information in it. 12 Oct
@dbalwani Enjoying reading Learning SPARQL. 26 Sep
@WebDeveloper1 @LearningSPARQL A very helpful book. Easy to follow and inspiring me to try different things. 17 Sep
@paul_houle http://bit.ly/mqJhpH <- "Learning SPARQL" is an instant classic, up there with "Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist" 15 Sep
@JPMenez Just finished reading @bobdc 's @LearningSPARQL Awesome for learning #Sparql 1.1 #Recommended 8 Aug
@zbeauvais Because I can't get online, I'm reading the @LearningSPARQL book. Good stuff. 3 Aug
@woodwardjd about half way through @LearningSPARQL - well worth it for a novice, with plenty of tidbits still for the intermediate. 27 Jul
@jaymyers starting in on @bobdc 's learning sparql http://oreil.ly/nB9jLb, will be a good read for all semtech enthusiasts 15 Jul