IT programming books related reviews
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
I have not read this book, yet, but I know Connor from his time in the UK and I am 100% sure this book will be accurate, interesting and full of useful ideas, tips and examples.Connor, knows and understands Oracle and PLSQL and I would trust anything he told me on the subject.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Oracle8i Certified Professional SQL & PL/SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
Authors: Jason S. Couchman
Rating: 1/5
Title: Oracle8i Certified Professional SQL & PL/SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
Authors: Jason S. Couchman
Rating: 1/5
Respecting Oracle Press I bought this book... :( NEVER AGAIN! Why don't they clearly write on the outside that this is a word-for-word copy of the DBA 8i Certification Guide? Makes you realize the pitfalls of online buying!!!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ben Forta
Rating: 3/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ben Forta
Rating: 3/5
If you've never used SQL before, then this will be a great introductory book if you don't intend to create complex queries or use some of the more advanced SQL features. It is by no means an SQL reference. (Not that it claims to be, mind you.) For someone who needs to retrieve simple data from databases and who has a hard time remembering the syntax, this book will be a god-send.I've always shied away from these "10-minute" type books, and now I can see why. It is NOT at all a bad book; I guess I just incorrectly evaluated my needs. Be sure you carefully evaluate yours before purchasing.
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
I liked this book okay, but felt it was a bit dated. I kept running into techniques that I've heard Microsoft has recommended against, like directly querying the system tables or using *= joins. Also, the book seemed uneven -- I guess that's probably due to the multiple authors, but I dunno. I bought Henderson's Transact-SQL Guru's Guide book at the same time and I'm far happier with it. It's better in almost every category and covers 7.0 extensively.
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
Compared to other large SQL Transact books, this book has solid information. It only provides information from what is not covered in MS "Books Online" which makes this book a perfect companion. I spent four months reading reviews and trying to find the right rescource. I am glad I chose this book!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Database Design
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Louis Davidson, Wrox Author Team
Rating: 3/5
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Database Design
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Louis Davidson, Wrox Author Team
Rating: 3/5
I've been reading many reviews about WROX books and people make it sound like WROX is the next O'Reilly of tech books. So when I needed a MSS-QL design book I figured I'd give them a try, especially after their good reviews on this book.Leave it to say I'm very dissapointed. I own well over 100 tech books and this is by far the most wordy book I've read. This extra detail of wordiness does not offer some great insight into the subject but seems to serve as a way for the author(s) to turn what should be a 250 page book into a long and boring 600 page read.I prefer books that get "right to the point". Theory is good and all but not in excessiveness. What it really boils down to is time, this book doubles my pacing and doesn't offer more in the line of education. If I wanted to read something big, I'll buy 'War & Peace'.Bigger is NOT always better.
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: 2/5
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: 2/5
This book is waste of money as far as preparation for certification is concerned. Oracle Press book is the best. I just wasted $ 39 on this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCSE Lab Manual for SQL Server 2000 Administration
Publisher: Course Technology
Authors: Karen York-Levine
Rating: 4/5
Title: MCSE Lab Manual for SQL Server 2000 Administration
Publisher: Course Technology
Authors: Karen York-Levine
Rating: 4/5
Let's say that they gave it a try. Labs are fine, just less than about 20 typos. Just like all other test-prep books, this one also have copied a lot out of MOCs and since MOC did not help with the certfiication, at least for SQL exams, this book did not come out good either. Even Sybex, Microsoft Press seem to follow the same trend. I gave it four stars, because labs are at least ordered and somewhat relate to the basic SQL admin skill.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP Cookbook
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: David Sklar, Adam Trachtenberg
Rating: 3/5
Title: PHP Cookbook
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: David Sklar, Adam Trachtenberg
Rating: 3/5
The main preoccupation of this book is finding solutions to common PHP programming problems. It contains a series of instructions on how best, programmers and/or web designers, who monitor dynamic web contents could apply scripting language. This book would arouse the interest of anyone who already knows the fundamentals of PHP.
Its main drawback is that it is overtly abridged. Fledging PHP followers may criticize it for lacking the type of depth and practical application that non-advanced learners would want. Still, it is not a bad book to spend your wad on.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft(r) SQL Server(tm) 2000 Analysis Services Step by Step
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: OLAP Train, Reed Jacobson
Rating: 4/5
Title: Microsoft(r) SQL Server(tm) 2000 Analysis Services Step by Step
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: OLAP Train, Reed Jacobson
Rating: 4/5
This Step by Step guide serves as a great starting point for getting familiar with Microsoft's Analysis services. It starts with a quick introduction to data warehousing (without resorting to giving an entire history of the subject, as seems so common today) and how it relates to OLAP and then moves right into the Analysis Servies tools.The chapters are well written and get you the information you need, without missing any major details. Even if you don't plan to take the "step by step" approach, this book is worth having by your side.All right... now for the downsides. At best this book is good for beginners. These are some of the areas where I found it came up short:- Sizing systems that will support Analysis Services. The book talks a bit about how big cubes are, but there is no information about cube performance/cube sizing, etc. Basically, this book won't help you develop a hardware plan for hosting Analysis Services.- Accessing Analysis Services via the web. All of Microsoft's literature talks about how SQL Server 2000's great support for the web/XML. Strangely, it is very hard to find this information for Analysis Services, and this book doesn't provide any guidance. Right now it seems that the best you can do to find this information is hunt around Microsoft's site.Overall I still think this is good book. However, if you are going to be building a large Analysis Services system, expect to be looking for other sources to answer all of your questions.
