SQL syntax

SQL syntax is presented in modified BNF notation.

The meta-symbols of BNF are:
Symbol Meaning
| or. Choose one of the items
[ ] Enclose optional items.
* Flags items that you can repeat 0 or more times. Has a special meaning in some SQL statements.
{ } Groups items so that they can be marked with one of the other symbols, i.e. [ ], |, or *.
( ) . , Other punctuation that is part of the syntax.
An example of how SQL syntax is presented:
CREATE [ UNIQUE ] INDEX IndexName
  ON TableName ( SimpleColumnName [ , SimpleColumnName ] * ) 
Command-line syntax for running Java programs and utilities (as well as examples) always begins with the word java:
java org.apache.derby.tools.ij

This documentation attempts to be JVM neutral, but any command line examples or syntax using JVM specific references should be verified with your JVM documentation.