IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Kalen Delaney
Rating: 5/5
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Kalen Delaney
Rating: 5/5
This excellent book is only for advanced specialists not for a novice.
It leads you into the depths of Microsoft SQL Server 2000. It contains many exclusive infromation that is not available anywhere else.
It's irreplacable and table-on book for any serious SQL Server professional.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Mastering Oracle PL/SQL: Practical Solutions
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Connor McDonald, Chaim Katz, Christopher Beck, Joel R. Kallman, David C. Knox
Rating: 5/5
Title: Mastering Oracle PL/SQL: Practical Solutions
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Connor McDonald, Chaim Katz, Christopher Beck, Joel R. Kallman, David C. Knox
Rating: 5/5
Here's he first thing that you will notice when you read this book: it is extremely easy to follow, with every explanation leading naturally to the next one, in a seamless way. Now I understand why the Author's presentations at top-notch Oracle events are always "sold-out" - excellent knowledge mixed with excellent presentation skills is rarely found in the same person, but for sure Connor McDonald is an example of this rare breed. I may say that I "drank" more than "read" the book.The contents, that goes without saying, are really interesting, and I've already used the improved knowledge and new facts that I've got from the book for my code and designs. Most importantly, I know, given the Author's reputation and method (always try things out and then provide a test case), that what's in the book is correct and works - which, sadly, does not apply for too many books about Oracle out there.
The book now is included in my "gold quality" bookshelf. Since this bookshelf is composed exclusively by books authored by Thomas Kyte, Jonathan Lewis, Steve Adams, Cary Millsap, James Morle, and now Connor McDonald, who are members of the OakTable Network (which i've nicknamed the "Oracle Scientist Club", since in essence, the reason why they are so succesfull it's that they follow the aforementioned method in investigating Oracle), I'm really sure that the "OakTable Press Series" is not to be missed, and I won't miss for sure. Great!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server 2000 Developer's Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Michael Otey, Paul Conte
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server 2000 Developer's Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Michael Otey, Paul Conte
Rating: 5/5
Paul Conte and Michael Otey have written a most excellent reference for SQL Server 2000 development. The examples, explanations, and sample code are precise and easy to understand. As a developer, I think that having a good basic understanding of SQL Server administration is essential, and this book provides just what I need. I recommend this book to any SQL Server 2000 developer.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 5/5
This is another excellent book in the "Visual Quick Start" series of books. I have other books on the subject, but I find myself always going back to this one to learn new ideas, and just for reference. Examples are really helpful. Enjoy!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Creating Interactive Web Sites with PHP and Web Services
Publisher: Sybex
Authors: Eric Rosebrock, Eric Rosebrock, Sybex
Rating: 1/5
Title: Creating Interactive Web Sites with PHP and Web Services
Publisher: Sybex
Authors: Eric Rosebrock, Eric Rosebrock, Sybex
Rating: 1/5
Let me start by saying that I did find this book quite helpful. It contains a wealth of ideas about topics that a Web site developer would want to know about. The author doesn't just talk about designing a Web site with static data. These Web sites really are interactive, which is the direction that many Web sites are headed today. For example, if you want to create a blog, Chapter 6 will get you started. Are you a merchant that wants to get started with online payments? Chapters 8 and 9 will get you started; although, they probably aren't the end of the journey because the book doesn't address security and privacy concerns. Even so, you can get a lot of information out of this book.The book does have a few problems, one of which is the title. I didn't really see much in the way of real Web services coverage. Yes, there is a simple example of working with Amazon Web Services in Chapter 7, but that's not really a lot of coverage. The supposed coverage of Google Web Services in Chapter 7 doesn't deal with Google Web Services at all--it discusses how to create request URLs for the standard interface. Does this make the techniques less useful? No, I found them quite helpful, but this truly isn't a Web services book.I found it a little jolting that the author has just barely introduced functions on page 17 and on page 18 you're already working with databases. I wouldn't consider this a book for the novice--it's not a gentle introduction to PHP at all.The author also has a tendency to either omit necessary configuration details or mention them in passing so that a reader could easily miss them. For example, the reader needs a developer token to work with the Amazon example, yet the author devotes a single sentence to this topic and it's buried in a paragraph with other details. Consequently, even though the code probably all works, some readers have probably gotten frustrated trying to figure out the missing details.Given what I know about the book now, it's still a very good purchase and will stay on my bookshelf. The author introduces too many good ideas and interesting concepts to ignore this book. Hopefully, a second edition will fix some of the annoyances that kept the first edition from being as good as it could be.
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
Someone on the newsgroups recommended this book because I was having trouble getting some statistical Transact-SQL I had written to work. I started reading this last week and was blown away. I can't believe all the things you can do!! The sections in the book on Sets, Sequences, Runs, Hierarchies, Arrays, and Statistical Functions are the best I have seen. They got me going immediately. I had working code within an hour of opening the book. These sections would ge good reading even for the non-Transact-SQL programmer. Henderson has a dynamite way of explaining the nitty-gritty details of how things work in understandable terms. And the code provided actually runs, unlike the code in another book I bought for the same purpose. It runs and it runs fast! This is one great book.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Ocp: Oracle8I Dba SQL and Pl/SQL Study Guide : Exam 1Z0-001 (OCP Study Guide)
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Chip Dawes, Biju Thomas
Rating: 3/5
Title: Ocp: Oracle8I Dba SQL and Pl/SQL Study Guide : Exam 1Z0-001 (OCP Study Guide)
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Chip Dawes, Biju Thomas
Rating: 3/5
This book is great to get through the book,but not up to the mark.It doesn't take you to the details which is required for the exam.Better to find some other books along with this.
I, passed the exam using only this book (40/57),but it didn't fetch the mark I desired.I am new to oracle,so it was tough for me to get through this exam by concentrating only on this book and in a time of 15 days,not for the beginners!
IF U ARE A BEGINNER try to find some other books along with this.Best Of Luck!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache Jakarta-Tomcat
Publisher: Apress
Authors: James Goodwill
Rating: 4/5
Title: Apache Jakarta-Tomcat
Publisher: Apress
Authors: James Goodwill
Rating: 4/5
A very good start for developers who want to know the basic of Tomcat 4.0. The book not only explains Tomcat architecture well, it also has screen shots to support those examples. Very good writeout, much better than the other books. This book will definitely benefit the beginner to intermediate developers who want to know Tomcat in the shortest time.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft(r) SQL Server(tm) 2000 Analysis Services Step by Step
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: OLAP Train, Reed Jacobson
Rating: 5/5
Title: Microsoft(r) SQL Server(tm) 2000 Analysis Services Step by Step
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: OLAP Train, Reed Jacobson
Rating: 5/5
This author is able to explain complex ideas simply. Everything works! Not only is this author knowledgeable, the text reflects actual experience in using Analysis Services to do real projects. The topics are relevant AND the author's sequencing of topics shows great talent as an instructor. A beginner will not get lost. At the same time, experienced users will pick up valuable tips. This book should be nominated for an award!
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
As a long standing Sybase Adaptive Server and Tools specialist and trainer, I bought this book hoping to extend my skills to Microsoft SQL Server. I also intended to use this book as a reference. The two products have the same roots after all, and both use a flavour of Transact-SQL.The Guru's Guide is basically structured around SQL syntax. It starts with introductory chapters on Transact-SQL, both DDL and DML. Chapters 6 onwards cover SQL in more detail. Many examples accompany the text. And the further you get into the book, the beefier it gets. Advance topics like cursors and transactions are covered well. Stored Procedures and Triggers are only glanced over in this book - these topics are left for the more advanced Guru's Guide to Stored Procedures. But some administrative issues are covered, and covered well. System procedures are discussed, and you can find code for the useful ones that are NOT supplied by the vendors. Talking about which, another topic of interest is the undocumented features T-SQL. The things that are there, but the vendors did not want you to know about it.Database design and performance tuning are topics sorely needed by many application programmers, in my experience, and I recommend these chapters to anyone who needs grounding in these areas. Other programming issues like full-text searching is covered, and there is a neat replacement procedure for Soundex to be found. Many bits and pieces make a good reading of the book worthwhile.All the code are included on a CD-ROM. If you are a Sybase user, do not expect the bonus SQL editor (on the CD-ROM) to work for you. You'll get a message saying "this demo version can only connect to MS SQL Server". Should you visit the website to look for the non-demo version, you'll find a version tied even closer to Microsoft. It won't even install without MS SQL Server present. I thought that this was unfortunate.This book covers so much that I find it hard to summarise it in a few paragraphs. It is obviously recommended for MS SQL server professionals - there are enough glowing reviews on this page. Do I recommend it for Sybase users? Well yes, maybe. If you accept that MS SQL Server and Sybase Adaptive Server have grown apart over the years and that there are many incompatibilities between the two. So while you can use the Guru's guide for ideas, hints and tips and techniques, it will not serve as an exact reference manual. But I think you'll find much of value. This is one of the better database and SQL books I have seen.I have also purchased the follow up Guru SQL book, which is more advanced than the present book. What would also be nice is a book on SQL algorithms or patterns. Maybe Ken Henderson can do a follow-up that provides sample solutions to common SQL problems. And how about a book that covers the differences between to MS SQL Server and Sybase Adaptive Server?
