IT programming books related reviews
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 (Microsoft Programming Series)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: Ron Soukup
Rating: 5/5
After taking the Accelerated SQL Course, and using practise exams, I was disappointed in my score on my first attempt to pass this exam. I had never failed and exam before! With this book, my score improved by 250 points. Material I couldn't find elsewhere was answered in abundance in this book. ( As an example, I failed to find material concerning an update in place elsewhere, yet there are 13 pages concerning that topic in this book). Very thorough, yet enjoyable. A must read for anyone preparing for the SQL Database Design exam.
Title: Getting The Search Engine Ranking Your Website Deserves: : META Tags Yield To Google's PageRank As Search Engine Standard
Publisher:
Authors: John Henderson
Rating: 1/5
I totally agree with the other reviewer who advised not buying this document. First, it's only a few pages long, and certainly not worth paying money for. Second, the information is not anything special - it can be found on the web, where it belongs. It's merely a short article, and the first thing I've ever bought from Amazon that hasn't been worth the money. I am disappointed that Amazon would even decide to put such a short and 'thin' document on their website and sell it as a book. Can I get a refund?!
Title: OCP Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Jason Couchman
Rating: 4/5
This is the only book I used to prepare for the OCP 1Z0-007 exam. The Oracle published exam objectives were covered and the sample test questions on CD were good. Other than one or two SQL syntax surprises, I had no problems with the exam. This book may not be adequate if you are unfamiliar with databases, SQL, and programming as there is not alot of instructional material here. Good luck.
Title: Practical Microsoft SQL Server 7
Publisher: Que
Authors: Rob Kraft
Rating: 5/5
The use of the word "Practical" in the title is very appropriate for this book. Most computer books that focus on one software package seem to only focus on the features of the product rather than on practical ways to use it. But the chapters in this book always explain why you have to do something before telling you how to do it. The authors do an excellent job of organizing the topics, focusing on what's important, and including practical tips. This book is focused toward people who will be administering SQL Server 7.0, not people who will be developing databases or applications with database backends. The authors have obviously used SQL Server for many years and are clearly experts. Whether you are new to SQL Server or even if you have used previous versions, you will find this book worthwhile. The only fault I have with the book is not the content, but the editing - there are dozens, if not hundreds, of spelling and grammar errors that could be picked up with a spell/grammar checker (e.g. "cou7ld" for "could"). Huh?! But this is a small problem and doesn't detract from the quality of the work.
Title: PHP Bible, 2nd Edition
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Tim Converse, Joyce Park
Rating: 5/5
There's not much more that can be asked for from this book. An excellent book to say the least.
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Administration Study Guide (Book/CD-ROM Set)
Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Syngress
Rating: 3/5
This book lacks of in-depth tutorials and too much "copy and paste" sentences. However, this book is useful if you only need to concentrate to the test topics and objectives. Do not expect anything 'close to the exam questions'. Use Exam Cram for that. Find at Books On-Line for more detail knowledge.
Title: Beginning Php 4 (Programmer to Programmer)
Publisher: Peer Information
Authors: Chris Lea, Allan Kent, Ganesh Prasad, Chris Ullman
Rating: 4/5
The title of this review says it all... if you are new to PHP, this is the first book you should get. There is indepth coverage of what PHP is, the "basics" as well as more advanced workings of the language.Every subject needs a primer, and PHP has its primer in this book.The samples are clear and concise, the writing style is easy to read... almost a personal mentoring style, and the authors show the reader that they know their subject backwards and forwards.I cannot think of anything else that would be a better introduction to the world of PHP programming/scripting.
Title: MCSE: SQL Server 2000 Design Study Guide (Exam 70-229)
Publisher: Sybex
Authors: Marc Israel, J. Steven Jones, Marc Israel, Steve Jones
Rating: 5/5
I recommend this over the Microsoft book, because of the content and the sample exams and the flash cards. Much effort went into THIS book.
Title: Oracle8i Certified Professional SQL & PL/SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
Authors: Jason S. Couchman
Rating: 1/5
Poorly organized and filled with errors. Oracle Press has better titles, use one of their other books to prepare for the exam.
Title: Visual Developer SQL Database Programming with Java: Creating Fast, Efficient Database Applications for the Web
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Bill McCarty, Bill McCarthy
Rating: 5/5
A pretty awesome book if you want to get into Java/SQL DB building.... Tons of code examples.

