Note that a semicolon is the last character in the previous statement. Also, brackets indicate portions that are optional. Most SQL implementations have some character that terminates a statement or submits a statement to the database server. Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL use the semi- colon. Although Transact-SQL, Microsoft SQL Server's ANSI SQL version, has no such requirement, it is considered best practice to use it. This book uses the semicolon. Create a table called EMPLOYEE_TBL in the following example using the syntax for MySQL: CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE_TBL (EMP_ID CHAR (9) EMP_NAME VARCHAR (40) EMP_ST_ADDR WARCHAR (20) EMP_CITY VARCHAR (15) EMP_ST CHAR (2) EMP_ZIP INTEGER (5) EMP_PHONE INTEGER (10) EMP_PAGER INTEGER (10) NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL); The following code would be the compatible code for both Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle: