IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Practical SQL The Sequel (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman
Authors: Judith Bowman, Judith S. Bowman
Rating: 5/5
Title: Practical SQL The Sequel (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman
Authors: Judith Bowman, Judith S. Bowman
Rating: 5/5
In this companion to Practical SQL: The Handbook, Practical SQL: The Sequel picks up where the handbook left off and explores tasks related to the daily life of a database. The author takes a hands-on approach to taking basic knowledge of SQL and extending it to solving real world problems. Like most programming languages, SQL is a language that is best learned by doing. Entering queries and seeing what happens will get your further along than textbooks full of relational theory. It's a bit like walking: if you were to think about all the bones in your leg and how they work, you would probably fall down. There are plenty of examples for you to try, which later become prototypes for your own queries.Working on a daily basis with web applications, the Practical SQL Handbook is always within reach and is the reference I turn to whenever I run into a SQL query that tests the limits of my knowledge, despite several years of SQL experience. Writing SQL can often be tricky. Many concepts are difficult to grasp even for the experienced, such as working with aggregates or joins and unions, which often have me returning to the handbook. I expect Practical SQL: The Sequel will become a well-thumbed companion to the handbook.This book covers several important issues often overlooked by general SQL tutorials or theory and not covered at all by vendor manuals. This book is aimed at the person who has learned basic SQL and is moving on to greater things. You will not find basic relational database theory in this companion to Practical SQL: The Handbook, but you will find a balanced guide to learning the practical techniques for solving the SQL puzzles that crop up in the real world outside the classroom.Most working database applications employ SQL that bears little resemblance to the relational concepts and idealized examples found in textbooks or classrooms. Yet at the other extreme, the new SQL user is often frustrated to discover existing references are little more than technical manuals or vendor brochures touting the latest gimmick. This text helps you make the transition from the idealized forms of the classroom to the practical solutions used in everyday database work. It should not be dismissed as a sort of "vocational" text only for those who get their hands dirty. This book offers solid advice for anyone working with relational database systems.A chapter is devoted to recognizing, finding, correcting and removing "dirty data." Such as duplicate information, or nearly duplicate information, such as you are probably familiar with junk mail that comes to your mailbox with several slightly different spellings of your name. In the real world you often inherit data that has been collected without concern for integrity checks.Much of the work a database is expected to do requires searching through data for items matching some condition. This is executed through the WHERE clause, and is the place to start looking for ways you can improve SQL performance merely by paying attention to how you write SQL. In her foray into query tuning, the author explains how to avoid unnecessary table scans provoked by a variety of queries where a subtle difference of usage enables or disables employment of speed enhancing indexes. Or when indexing a column has no practical result.Most database systems provide some method for automatically generating unique numbers as data is inserted. Unfortunately, there is no standard among vendors for how autonumbering is implemented. The author compares examples from the most popular enterprise systems and shows examples of usage.The concept of finding the top-N items in a result set is discussed, which is central to many web applications user interfaces. Useful for navigating the database in "browse n-items" displays, data hiding, "top ten" lists, finding the five best customers, the lowest selling books and etc.A chapter is devoted to translating values, an often overlooked subject. Translation is mapping the arcane codes used to represent values into something readable by human beings. In order to save space and make references clearer to computers, frequently numbers or letter-number codes are used to signify a particular value. Making theses codes readable by people is often a chore, one that requires an inordinate amount of the programmer's attention that might be better spent elsewhere. The text covers various methods of translation, ranging from automatic CASE/DECODE features to doing it yourself using "point functions," which make life easier for the database programmer.A chapter on using "system catalogs" (tables that describe the database itself) shows you how to obtain descriptions of tables, list what tables exist in the database and describe existing indexes are useful to understanding the database environment and orienting yourself within the database. I use these commands on a daily basis and it has become my habit to issue a "show tables" command on logging in just to jog my memory.I have to admit the "enterprise" orientation of the Practical SQL series can sometimes be distracting, expecting the reader will rarely be working directly with advanced query formulation or have access to system-level functions. This is atypical for the database programmer working on small business or non-profit websites where they have full access to the SQL server. Rarely will they generating simple reports and often are tasked with crafting complex queries by hand. Oddly, this make the companion edition more appropriate for the programmer, because they will often face dirty data or legacy code working on websites.Do not expect this book to teach you how to create database driven website applications. There are other books that delve into database programming. I trust the Practical SQL books for clear explanations of complicated SQL concepts in plain language tempered by common sense and practicality, not specific solutions.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache Jakarta-Tomcat
Publisher: Apress
Authors: James Goodwill
Rating: 2/5
Title: Apache Jakarta-Tomcat
Publisher: Apress
Authors: James Goodwill
Rating: 2/5
It seems as if the author tried to get the book out the door as quickly as possible. If you are totally new to Tomcat, then you can read the book, but there is not much substance at all for anyone trying to actually implement Tomcat.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Beginning Visual Basic SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Thearon Willis
Rating: 5/5
Title: Beginning Visual Basic SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Thearon Willis
Rating: 5/5
This book is one of the best teaching guides that I have ever read. Willis is an excellent author - his writing style is impeccable. He leads you through the learning process in a systematic and orderly manner. However, there is no overlap ... if you are a beginning VB and SQL developer - this is one of the best bargains in the market. By the time you are through half the book you will start feeling very comfortable with VB concepts and SQL server. His programming examples cover a wide range of TSQL concepts and so does his VB. I strongly recommend this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Secure PHP Development: Building 50 Practical Applications
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Mohammed J. Kabir, Mohammed J. Kabir
Rating: 1/5
Title: Secure PHP Development: Building 50 Practical Applications
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Mohammed J. Kabir, Mohammed J. Kabir
Rating: 1/5
I read the first Chapter of this book and that was enough to know that this book is no good. The examples are not well explained and when it comes to try the code, it doesn't work. Don't waste your money on this!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 5/5
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 5/5
This book concentrates on transact sql for MS-SQL and Sybase. The book is well written and I covers a lot of ground. I bought it to write distributed stored procs. Well it gave me great examples and it also fills in the what if questions. Worth while. I keep it next to my desk.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft(r) SQL Server(tm) 2000 Reference Library
Publisher: Microsoft Press Rating: 2/5
Title: Microsoft(r) SQL Server(tm) 2000 Reference Library
Publisher: Microsoft Press Rating: 2/5
This bookshelf reference is an edited subset of content that can be found in the MSDN reference. The books are thorough, but lack good organization. In fact, in some of the books there is no index! I found these books to be pretty useless, and I've tried to return to them many times to justify the purchase and shelf space. They make a terrible reference (because of the lack of index) and only a mediocre tutorial. This COULD have been a great collection... if only it had been better organized and indexed in a more useful way.
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
If you are reading this book to learn, the examples provide easy understanding to the most common SQL statements for both selecting and manipulating data. Its worth trying the examples as a learning tool, and the scripts and populated Microsoft Access database is available from the authors web site (along with a few errata). If your using it as a reference, the nicely layed out contents, pages, and index provide for finding the information quickly. ASP programmers who are writing SQL to access databases for the web will particularly find this a useful guide to constructing the SQL SELECT statements to retrieve data. The book mentions more advanced features such as stored procedures and triggers which will at least give you a taste of things to learn. I suspect that as readers databases grow slower, however they may be searching for more information on indexing and keys.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PC Annoyances, Second Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steve Bass
Rating: 5/5
Title: PC Annoyances, Second Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steve Bass
Rating: 5/5
I was a user group president for over 10 years, I also do an early morning computer show on our local ABC station and teach seniors the basics at a local college. As you might guess I get hundreds of questions on a daily basis form a lot of very frustrated folks.
I recommend PC Annoyances and just about any book from O'Reilly as the solution to many of their headaches.
It is an easy read, has fantastic support, and the fixes work, what more could you ask for?
David A. Kerr-Burke
Corpus Christi Advanced Technologies www.ccatech.com
Computer Corner on KIII-TV (ABC) Thursday mornings www.kiiitv.com
Coastal Area Users Group, Inc. a 501(c)(3) non-profit www.caug.org
Del Mar Senior Education http://www.delmar.edu/specserv/seniors.h tml
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional PHP4 Programming
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Deepak Thomas, Wankyu Choi, John Coggeshall, Ken Egervari, Martin Geisler, Zak Greant, Andrew Hill, Chris Hubbard, James Moore, Devon O'Dell, Jon Parise, Harish Rawat, Tarique Sani, Christopher Scollo, Chris Ullman, et al
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional PHP4 Programming
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Deepak Thomas, Wankyu Choi, John Coggeshall, Ken Egervari, Martin Geisler, Zak Greant, Andrew Hill, Chris Hubbard, James Moore, Devon O'Dell, Jon Parise, Harish Rawat, Tarique Sani, Christopher Scollo, Chris Ullman, et al
Rating: 5/5
I bought this book with very little programming experience at hand.
I found this book very easy to read and use when i needed it
later for a specific job.The concepts were introduced to good detail
and sufficed for the job at hand. I liked both the case studies
and the library application in the database chapters. I have never read a more comprehensive and realistic book on programming.Duh! so what are
you waiting for;)
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Google Hacks
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest
Rating: 5/5
Title: Google Hacks
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest
Rating: 5/5
I used to say that if you give me five minutes, I can find what I'm looking for on the web. After reading this book, I may have to revise that to three minutes. If you get a chance to get this book, do so!
