IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server Security Distilled, Second Edition
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Morris Lewis
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server Security Distilled, Second Edition
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Morris Lewis
Rating: 5/5
I spent just under 2 years doing the research for this book. In terms of breadth of coverage, there is no better book on the market. Rather than searching Microsoft's mammoth site for articles and white papers, everything you need to understand SQL Server security from version 6.5 to 2000 is in one book. This book also goes deeper than the basic introduction to the various security mechanisms. Many books will tell you what SQL Server offers, but very few provide detailed information on *how* and *why* it works the way it does. Each chapter provides insights into the inner workings of SQL Server's security architecture and provides practical advice on how to use that information to keep your systems safe.There are some other books that focus on showing you "hackers' tricks" for attacking your database servers, but this book takes the premise that if you do things the right way from the beginning, no hacker is ever going to find a trick that works on your systems. As an example, this book recommended configuring firewalls to block the traffic used by the Spammer virus long before the virus became news. Those who read this book and followed its advice slept soundly the weekend that Spammer was taking the Internet down.Since the future of Curlingstone is in doubt, support for the book has moved to www.,.,..com, and the author is not only committed to maintaining the current work but also planning to release an interim update in electronic format in the fall covering changes in SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3 and any new discoveries found since December, 2002. The author also plans to release additional chapters on Yukon early next year for early adopters. This book is alive and will be updated periodically to keep its readers safe from the bad guys.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 1/5
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 1/5
This most current edition of "TRANSACT-SQL PROGRAMMING" is obsolete! The cover advertises itself as for Microsoft SQL Serer 6.5/7.0 & Sybase Adaptive Server 11.5. This is very misleading. The Microsoft related information is definitely oriented to version 6.5. The new 7.0 features and differences are covered in an addendum. This is unacceptable because the 7.0 release was huge! It is so much better in so many ways that one would be foolish to continue with version 6.5. Likewise one would be foolish to buy and read this book. I recommend "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 7.0" by Soukup and Delaney, as a better alternative. What should TRANSACT-SQL PROGRAMMING should have been is an up-to-date description of the TRANSACT-SQL as it is in 7.0, with an addendum about other versions. The main text now has many misleading statements that were once correct but are now mistaken. I bought this book because it was from O'Reilly & Associates, a usually excellent source. This book was obsolete when it was first published in March 1999. It should have been withheld for a major revision.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Beginning SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic Developers
Publisher: Peer Information Inc.
Authors: Thearon Willis
Rating: 4/5
Title: Beginning SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic Developers
Publisher: Peer Information Inc.
Authors: Thearon Willis
Rating: 4/5
This book will help those who know a little to a fair amount of SQL. Use this and then Wrox's "Professional SQL Server 2000" to ready yourself for Microsoft's 70-229. The book is well written and holds your interest. This is THE book for VB programmers. I found a problem with trying to make one chapter's stored procedure work and Wrox's tech support responded in one day to my email to give me a solution (SET NOCOUNT ON). Highly recommended book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle Database 10g PL/SQL 101 (101)
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Christopher Allen
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle Database 10g PL/SQL 101 (101)
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Christopher Allen
Rating: 5/5
With all the many Oracle Press books I have been able to review, I have not yet been disappointed by one of them. They have consistently been written clearly, been relevant, and valuable in real-world Oracle development. This book is of course no exception. It is written as a beginning guide to not only Oracle development but as an entry-level text to SQL syntax and concepts as well.
After a good introduction to what a database is, the author begins into a tutorial on basic SQL syntax. In this introductory section, the reader learns how to create tables, write INSERT statements, and then select the data back out via the SELECT statement. The author quickly moves to more advanced techniques, illustrating the use of the WHERE clause, and discusses use of the UPDATE statement.
Practical use of the techniques just discussed will likely be implemented in SQL*Plus, so the author begins a very thorough discussion of this tool. Many of the potential problems a user might experience with SQL*Plus are covered and solutions are provided. I was quite pleased with how extensive this chapter covers the topic of SQL*Plus. It is an excellent introduction to this tool.
The author then begins to discuss more advanced database techniques, including the use of indexes and constraints. Finally, the author begins a discussion of basic PL/SQL syntax. This is really my only problem with the book: the book is called PL/SQL 101, yet only the last chapter is dedicated to discussing the subject. Sure, the proceeding material is necessary to have the framework to discuss PL/SQL. I just think the title is a bit misleading.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 3/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 3/5
If you're a full-time SQL programmer, this book will provide value. It delves into esoteric topics. From a practical standpoint, the book does not show the uses of SQL in a meaningful way. Don't buy it unless you're full-time.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Visual Basic Developer's Guide to SQL Server
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Dianne Siebold
Rating: 5/5
Title: Visual Basic Developer's Guide to SQL Server
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Dianne Siebold
Rating: 5/5
I had purchased a couple of SQL server books prior to this one and found that they all fell short. This one is the best of the bunch in my mind. I always keep it handy on the job.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Developer's Workbook
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steven Feuerstein
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Developer's Workbook
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steven Feuerstein
Rating: 5/5
If there is any book which will "fine-tune" one's knowledge of PL/SQL, this is it. It is written in Feuerstein's inimitable style which will keep you engaged with the book much longer than any other peer book of it's kind. There is so much to learn from this book really - and it applies to beginners as experts alike. This book explores the tiniest nuts and bolts of PL/SQL in an exercise-like format which gives the reader a chance to ponder on the problem before he/she looks up the answers. And I must add, you are in store for a lot of surprises when you look up the answers in the second half of the book ! (escpecially in the experts' section)
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 4/5
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 4/5
Overall, this book is an extremely good reference for the syntax and commands of the Apache web server config file. I really learned a lot in not only the Linux (*nix also) platform, but more importantly the Windows platform since I started out on a Windows machine before I started using Linux. I might hold off on getting this book until Apache 2.0 final is released. I was a little disappointed that the book did not give better coverage to Apache mods since it just waved it's hand over them without much explaination or throughness. Overall, good book, but keep in mind it is mainly for reference and you will ned to know a little bit about it before you start.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 4/5
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 4/5
I was fairly warned by Amazon reviewers that this book issimply a print version of the PHP functions found on [the internet], but I went ahead and bought it anyway. I figured that the author must have added something to the online documentation. As it turns out, the author's additions consist mostly of typos and grammatical errors. I wouldn't mind it so much if Atkinson had at least added a useful topical index. Instead, the index is largely a listing a PHP's functions. Why bother? Considering PHP's power and elegance, I wouldn't be surprised if Core PHP Programming turns out to be an act of sabotage hatched by the Microsoft folks. Fortunately, the language not only survived this attack, but has flourished.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Robert Vieira
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Robert Vieira
Rating: 5/5
I agree with the reviewer Wendt, who complained that this book is too much like its earlier edition. I borrowed a copy of this new edition and compared it to my copy of the previous. Partly 'cus I was wondering if I needed to upgrade.But not really. Wendt is correct. If you already have an earlier copy, then you should save some money and stick with that. The extra new stuff here is pretty minor.
