IT programming books related reviews
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 5/5
Leon Atkinson has done it again and better. Core PHP programming(second edition) has hundreds of useful working examples and covers the new 4.0 version of PHP. This is a must have resource.
Title: Apache Server Unleashed
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Richard Bowen, Matthew Marlowe, Ken Coar, Patrik Grip-Jansson, Mohan Chinnappan
Rating: 4/5
This book has been generally helpful. It is well written, appears to be accurate, covers many topics, and is well indexed. It does not have the level of detail that, say, a good O'Reilly book has, but I believe it happens to be as good as (or maybe a touch better than) the O'Reilly book on this subject.
Title: MCSE Training Kit: Microsoft(r) SQL Server(tm) 2000 System Administration
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Microsoft Corporation
Rating: 3/5
Touches on all the topics on the test. It is a great introduction to the many topics you need to know to pass. However, without SQL Server Books Online and a good set of practice tests (not the ones in this book) I don't think you'll make it. This book skims the surface on everything. A lot of milk but not much meat. I found the practice tests at the end of each chapter to be of little value.
Title: SQL Server 7 Developer's Guide
Publisher: Osborne Publishing
Authors: Michael Otey, Paul Conte
Rating: 5/5
I was looking for a book that would help me setup a small company's database and write some VB apps for their business. This was just what I needed! Lots of working VB code on the CD and a ton of details on T-SQL. The chapter on security was awesome; lots of things I hadn't considered when I started the project.Definitely a good book for developers!
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 5/5
This is a comprehensive book.
Full of practical advice. The author(s) apparently has a lot of experience as a developer.
It is not at all dull as some reviews claim.
Title: Php Fast & Easy Web Development (Fast & Easy Web Development)
Publisher: Premier Press
Authors: Julie C. Meloni
Rating: 1/5
She just let you follow her codes line by line, again and again without explanation.
Title: Insider's Guide To SEO: How To Get Your Website To The Top Of The Search Engines
Publisher: Jain Publishing Company
Authors: Andreas Ramos, Stephanie Cota
Rating: 5/5
Well worth the read. A great book for helping any online business. Thanks! Laura, Apex Resumes, www.apexresumes.com
Title: Real World Web Services
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Will Iverson
Rating: 2/5
I was very disappointed with this book. I was hoping for something that would go into detail of the various Web Services solutions offered by Amazon, Google, etc. Instead it is just another Java book filled with mostly code (is it a sin to use prose anymore?) and lacking in any kind of detailed discussion at all. It basically talks about very specific problems, offers some code, then moves on to another specific solution. I found it completely uninteresting.
The only person I would suggest this book for is someone who wants code to Cut and Paste without really understanding what they are doing. And good luck to them ;-)
Title: PHP Developer's Cookbook (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Sterling Hughes, Andrei Zmievski
Rating: 5/5
Most of the great texts are appropriately named and hold themselves in particularly high esteem. This book doesn't do that, its about solutions. It offers practical solutions to every day problems (really, the book in many cases has actually had the exact solution to the problems I had!) And not only that, but the book is also very easy to read from front to back. Although its not intended as a book that should be read fluently, reading it chapter by chapter will actually increase your knowledge of PHP a hundred fold, both authors are on the PHP Development team, and they explain how PHP really works, inside out. A must have for any intermediate-experienced coder, looking to take there coding skills to the next level.
Title: SQL Server System Administration (The Landmark Series)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Chris Miller, Sean Baird, John Lynn, Michael Hotek, Denis Darveau
Rating: 1/5
wow... i thought i had read in one of the reviews that this book was great. whoever wrote either hasn't read the book or doesn't know anything about administering dbs. whatever you do, do not buy this book.

