IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Programming Unleashed
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Dave Martin, John Papa, Marc Israel
Rating: 5/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Programming Unleashed
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Dave Martin, John Papa, Marc Israel
Rating: 5/5
I can't say much that hasn't already been said in other's praises, without sounding redundant (there's too much of that in this field already.) This book is worth every cent paid. Of all the poorer-quality publications out here, esp. those with reams of endless prose and little substance, this one comes through. I do apply several criteria when judging a computer book (yes, even "theory" has its place...sorry), but the ultimate test is: does the book REALLY address useful issues, and solve problems. This book scores. Make sure you keep this baby close to your computer at all times.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL: The Complete Reference, Second Edition
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: James R Groff, Paul N. Weinberg
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL: The Complete Reference, Second Edition
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: James R Groff, Paul N. Weinberg
Rating: 5/5
If you aim to be a DBA the first thing you should do , before reading a specific DB Vendor book, is to read something about general database aspects like data integrity, security, performance etc.
This one does the job. After reading the book I was quickly able to dive into Oracle ( and now a DBA ).
But ( a commercial trick ) the book doesn't provide ( as promised in cover ) is detailed information on every main DB brand. But we all know this is not possible within a book, even at this size.
Tough, who cares?
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 4/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 4/5
This book is a must for any developer whether you are writing queries, stored procedures as a programmer or tuning as a DBA. The book is filled with code examples and the accompanying disk has a ton of examples that you can use. It's easy to follow and having the real world examples helps to clarify important points. Ken has written a superb technical book that is a must for anyone that is serious about taking their programming to the next level and become a TSQL guru. Thanks Ken!!!!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ben Forta
Rating: 5/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ben Forta
Rating: 5/5
This book is exactly what I was needing. I had been getting by learning some SQL by looking at example ASP pages. Everytime I needed something more, I had to go to a friend that knew SQL and ask how to do it. This book eliminates that now. For learning how to do the different types of SQL commands without needing all that other database stuff, you can't beat this, especially the price!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Fundamentals
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Authors: John J. Patrick
Rating: 4/5
Title: SQL Fundamentals
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Authors: John J. Patrick
Rating: 4/5
This is a *very* useful book. It explains the SQL language in a very clear and concise manner, covering the language in detail and offering excellent explanations. The book is also organized extremely well. The countless diagrams and screen shots are invaluable while working thru the examples.Having come to a point where I needed to learn SQL (and understand it), and fast, I picked this book out of 4 I was considering. I whole-heartedly believe I made the right decision. Not only did I learn SQL, but I understood it too.The book covers both MS Access and Oracle so if you're using either of those, and you need to learn the SQL language, this book is a great start! Heck, even if you won't be using Access or Oracle but have access to them for the purpose of the examples (I used Access for the examples but I needed to learn SQL for use with MySQL and MSSQL), this book should benefit you greatly.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
I found The Guru's Guide to be one of the best computer books I've ever had the privilege to read. It is not just another computer book. It's a deep, insightful, provocative treatise on the language, and I'll be using it for years to come. I think these parts deserve special mention:* Quotes: each chapter begins with a thoughtful quote. These quotes have a lot to say about the industry as well as learning T-SQL. I think they add a special 'spice' to the book.* P&T chapter: the chapter on performance and tuning is worthy of its own book. It's a catalog of all the things you can do to speed up your code.* Undocumented chapter: the secrets revealed by this chapter are true gems. I'm already using many of them.* Cursors chapter: I liked the story from the trenches about the conversion. I can empathize with the author. It can be frustrating to work with poor developers.Overall, I'd say this is the best investment you can make with your SQL Server dollar. I like this book even better than Inside SQL Server, which is saying something.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Learn MS SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Wordware Publishing
Authors: Jose Ramalho, Jose Antonio Ramalho
Rating: 1/5
Title: Learn MS SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Wordware Publishing
Authors: Jose Ramalho, Jose Antonio Ramalho
Rating: 1/5
The book was a waste of my money. Mr. Ramalho has taken a subject that is exceedingly comprehensible and sent it into the realm of mystery. His thoughts and explanations are desultory. It's as though he wrote the book on a bunch of 3x5 index cards, shuffled them and handed them off to the publisher. His explanations are incomplete and lack continuity. I spent more time in the "HELP" menu of MS SQL than I did reading the book. The tome left me with a bald spot from scratching my head. Don't the publishers have anyone who proofreads their technical texts? Probably not, else they would have those very people writing the books. It is a rare skill, an art, to be conversant and knowledgeable in a technical subject and also be capable of clearly relaying that knowledge. Most technical people are great at what they do, but lousy at explaining the intricacies of the subject. Mr. Ramalho is likely a whiz at MS SQL. Writing about it - he missed the broad side of the barn. I know whereof I speak, having a BA in journalism and the ability (albeit self-proclaimed) to wield the pen as a broadaxe or deftly finger it like a scapel. I am sure that the author is guilty of one sin only: failure to review and revise. Revisiting and revising are the essence of good writing, be it fiction or fact. Write and rewrite. Set the material aside for a few days and then repeat the process until you are satisfied. With all due respect, the author apparently finds satisfaction in mediocrity.
Malcolm Hein
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Google Hacks
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest
Rating: 5/5
Title: Google Hacks
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest
Rating: 5/5
This is a fine update to an excellent original work. If you aren't familiar the series there are one hundred hacks that cover a wide variety of, in this case, Google related topics. For example, how to determine the word of specific Google AdWords words. Each hack runs a couple of pages in length and has short code examples, usually in Perl, where appropriate.
A wide variety of Google topics are covered. From the basics of search use, through desktop integration, gmail, AdWords and finally into web page optimization. Part of this new version is the gmail content.
This was an excellent book the first time around. This second version brings it up to date with Google enhancements and gmail. Given the ever-widening variety of services my guess is that O'Reilly will need to split the coverage among a number of books in the future.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache Tomcat Bible
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Jon Eaves, Warner Godfrey, Rupert Jones
Rating: 5/5
Title: Apache Tomcat Bible
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Jon Eaves, Warner Godfrey, Rupert Jones
Rating: 5/5
This is definitely a good book to have... I recommend it! It is a true *complete* reference to Tomcat. Pretty much all you need to know about Tomcat you can find in this book. In a nutshell, a useful book that I am constantly referencing... it is pretty comprehensive...ceo
Product: Book Paperback
Title: A Guide to SQL Standard (4th Edition)
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: C. J. Date, Hugh Darwen
Rating: 5/5
Title: A Guide to SQL Standard (4th Edition)
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: C. J. Date, Hugh Darwen
Rating: 5/5
With so many different DBMS products on the market it is very important to be able to write database applications easily portable from one to another. The key to this portability is writing in compliance to the ISO/ANSI SQL standard. This book has been able to answer almost every my question! I can hardly say that for any other computer book.
