IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 5/5
This was the first book of 7 or so that I purchased and I think it's by far the best. The authors clearly explain various aspects of both PHP and MySQL. The book is one of those rare ones that does a great job for the beginners and winds up being a great reference for somewhat and mostly seasoned developers. I keep rereading various parts over and over and it's very helpful. If I was going to recommend just one book on the subject - this would definitely be it.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Itzik Ben-Gan, Tom Moreau
Rating: 4/5
Title: Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Itzik Ben-Gan, Tom Moreau
Rating: 4/5
A common theme among the negative critiques, is the use of the word "Advanced" in the book's title. Personally, i think the authors should simply have chosen a different title, and half of the negative comments would have been subdued. (Something to signify the apparent intent of the authors, such as "An anthology of T-SQL", or "A Comprehensive Introduction to T-SQL" ...) "Advanced" of course is to some extent a product of one's own thinking, and experience. Another aspect to this subject of "Advanced" has to do with the totally hackneyed, over-worked use of the term "Guru." Someone / something can in fact be "Advanced", and NOT be in the realm of "Guru." This term is COMPLETELY over-used, and over-applied. There are in fact but a very FEW "Guru's" out there in the 'Real World' (Ken Henderson being one.) A Guru is a unique, creative combination of high native intelligence, tireless enthusiasm, and indeterminate hours of true, Hands-On Experience, with the product. A Guru can be identified as someone who ALWAYS seems to know more about the topic, no matter what he/she is asked or challenged with. (As an aside....a "Guru" is NOT always a great, or even good, author ... or, communicator to humans, in general ... although this particular talent definitely is advantageous!) In short, evaluate a product, such as a computer book, on its merits, applicability to the task at hand, and value to YOU. Take with a GIANT grain of salt, any negative critique(s) before choosing .... esp. those propagated from a SINGLE source masquerading as MULTIPLE people!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Matt Zandstra
Rating: 4/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Matt Zandstra
Rating: 4/5
I have 8-10 years of experience with VB(A) as a hobbyist programmer (ergo no college training). I understand OO Programming to a degree, at least as far as I have used it, and now wanting to move into web application development I believe PHP is that key. However, the language is so vast. There are an unlimited number of functions both internal and user-created that handle an insane number of programming situations. I needed something to walk me through the basics... this book did that, is doing that, and will probably continue to do that. Beyond that it also touches on some important features to wet-your-whistle, so-to-speak. Smarty and XML and XSL to name a few. Excellent book, I recommend it for beginners and intermediate users alike... beginners, don't read past what you understand... and all will go well!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCSE Administering SQL Server 7 Exam Cram (Exam: 70-028)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Jeffrey Garbus, David Pascuzzi, Alvin Chang
Rating: 1/5
Title: MCSE Administering SQL Server 7 Exam Cram (Exam: 70-028)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Jeffrey Garbus, David Pascuzzi, Alvin Chang
Rating: 1/5
I studied this book to prepare for the exam. I eventually
realized that the topic needs more detail. I am now
working my way through the EXAM PREP version. If you want
to know the product, study EXAM PREP for THIS situation.Other EXAM CRAM books are ok. SQL 7 is very complicated. Hope this will help you -- Michael
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle Database 10g XML & SQL: Design, Build, & Manage XML Applications in Java, C, C++, & PL/SQL (Osborne ORACLE Press Series)
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Mark Scardina, Ben Chang
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle Database 10g XML & SQL: Design, Build, & Manage XML Applications in Java, C, C++, & PL/SQL (Osborne ORACLE Press Series)
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Mark Scardina, Ben Chang
Rating: 5/5
I wish more books were written like this. When you read it you understand that a team of high professional people have worked on it. The book is organized to be useful for developers, DBAs, managers. You'll find here everything you need: XML & SQL, XSQL , XSLT, XML in PL/SQL, Java, C, C++. I highly recommend this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Architecture and Internals
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Architecture and Internals
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
Bar none, no one knows more about SQL Server than Mr. Henderson. This book goes into more subjects at a finer detail than any other SQL Server book ever written. It's kind of humbling, and I think most SQL Server DBA's & programmmers need that. :)
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Foundation PHP for Flash
Publisher: Friends of Ed
Authors: Steve Webster
Rating: 5/5
Title: Foundation PHP for Flash
Publisher: Friends of Ed
Authors: Steve Webster
Rating: 5/5
When i bought this book I knew nothing about php or mySql, now I have a big project in hands almost completed with an interface that can monitor all parts of all my sites. The book its well written and quite easy to follow, if u want to understand how to have some real functionality to your site this is the book u MUST buy. Thanks Steve by the great job.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Interactive Workbook (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Benjamin Rosenzweig, Elena Silvestrova
Rating: 3/5
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Interactive Workbook (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Benjamin Rosenzweig, Elena Silvestrova
Rating: 3/5
The book isn't bad as an introduction to PL/SQL. It's straight forward and gives nice examples and test-your-knowledge that make you think about what you just read (which is a good way to learn when you can immediately apply somethin you read, unlike other books that just present the information).Now the bad. 1) They introduce something but don't necessarily explain it - like "SELECT x INTO y FROM dual". I've been using SQL for several years now and never saw "dual" used before, what is it and why is it used? (There was no table named "Dual").2) The self review questions don't sequence their answers right so you get: Question: A) Answer A B) Answer B C) Answer C C) Answer DOne is answered wrong in the back where the question is: Q:When a commit has been issued, which is true..? A) Blah B) Blah C) You have to get Married C) BlahThe answers in the back list A & C as correct!3) Answers don't really explain the "Why" like they say you can't do noncongrous sequences but they don't explain why..I am left to interpret that it's because you can't gaurantee a congrous number..is that the reason or is there something else?If it wasn't for wanting to do the examples I would drop this book, but the hands-on examples and questions do kind of help (though I'd prefer the questions were less simplistic & more like a college level text).
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 4/5
Title: PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 4/5
This is a GREAT book. It is straight forward and very easy to follow. Larry explains the MySQL queries and PHP coding very clearly. His examples walk you through creating your own scripts. He also explains every script very well in the book. His website is a great addition to this book. He has all of the scripts up on the site, as well as a forum for help with scripts.However, the only gripe I have is that it is not written for a beginner. It does kind of require experience with a programming language. I, myself, know JavaScript and had a few troubles with the scripts. However, a beginner could still pick up this book and learn everything. It might take longer and more thought, but it would still be possible.There are some parts in this book that are unclear, also. Some of the scripts were hard to decipher with his explination. However, these problems were easily overcome with help from my webhost.Overall, this is a GREAT book. I would recommend it to anyone who has at least some background with programming. I would also recommend it to any beginner who has the patience to sit and contemplate the different concepts. The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars, was that it might be hard for the beginner to pick up.
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 is a great book for SQL beginners. Each chapter is explained very well and the book goes step by step so reader do not get lost. I really like the examples about how syntax differ from SQL Server to ORACLE and some other systems. However, would be nice to have either at the beginning or at the end of the chapters all the tables with their attributes filled in. So, reader will be able to see much clearly the changes from the original tables to the new tables after using the code.
