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
I ordered this book because I a designer who wants to get more into the back-end of the web. I was worried that this book would be too 'advanced' for me, but at the same time I didn't want to order a 'beginner' book as I had taken 2 years of computer science in college before switching majors. I was relieved when I opened this book. It's a great title for those in my situation. I had a good idea of what SQL and PHP were all about, but I needed a basis of where to start. It has definately gotten me out of the gates and developing datasbase applications for the web.
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
I was a little surprised when I read some of the negative reviews on this book. It has become the most used book in my library of late and I find it very helpful and easy to use. The code examples are short, clear and to the point. The topics are well indexed and logically grouped, making it very easy to find examples of what I need to know. So many other books in this category are designed for either Database Administration or Developers embedding SQL in applications. This book is aimed at people who code SQL in MS SQL Server. It focuses on how to write the most optimized queries and gives practical tips that make it easier to write and debug SQL. I am somewhere in between a Beginner and an Advanced user. I have been coding simple embedded SQL for 5 years as a VB developer and recently writing more complex stored procedures. This book has been the most practical SQL reference I have found, much more helpful than the online help. It is has not been a "waste of time" or "beginner level at best" for me. I have learned quite a bit about SQL from this book and I thought I was fairly knowledgeable before I read it. Others in my department have also purchased this book and it has become the standard reference many of us use to answer SQL questions. If you are looking for a practical reference to common and advanced questions, you will find this book very useful.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Beginning E-Commerce with Visual Basic, ASP, SQL Server 7.0 and MTS
Publisher: Peer Information
Authors: Matthew Reynolds
Rating: 2/5
Title: Beginning E-Commerce with Visual Basic, ASP, SQL Server 7.0 and MTS
Publisher: Peer Information
Authors: Matthew Reynolds
Rating: 2/5
I read a lot of computer books. Most of them are either too theoretical or not hands-on. But I'm so pleased that I have chosen this book. It is very praticle and I wish I had this earlier.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 4/5
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 4/5
O'Reilley and Associates seems to have a knack at publishing good, solid technical manuals -- and "Apache: The Definitive Guide" is no exception.One of the best features of this book is the assumption that the reader knows nothing about web servers, and builds a good solid knowledge of apache, the most popular web server on the internet today (and one of only a few offering true HTTP-compliance). The book guides the reader through the purpose of Apache, the HTTP protocol, and then on to writing Apache config files from scratch (once you learn how to do this, you'll never want to use the default config). From there, the book goes on to discuss advanced topics such as server-side includes, Secure socket layer, and even a reference into the Apache API.The only suggestion I'd add -- when you try the examples in this book, make sure you have a clean install of Apache. If you're on linux, don't use the version of Apache that shipped with your system -- start from scratch, follow the book. For windows users, don't be intimidated by the lack of a visual front-end (this is actually a benefit on a real production web server). Follow the book and all the special notes for Win32, and you'll be an Apache guru in no time.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Writing Apache Modules with Perl and C
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lincoln Stein, Doug MacEachern
Rating: 5/5
Title: Writing Apache Modules with Perl and C
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lincoln Stein, Doug MacEachern
Rating: 5/5
I can't say enough good things about this book. I particularly appreciate the way in which it makes the mod_perl Apache module clearly and easily accessible despite its complexity.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 5/5
I bought this book when I first wanted to learn PHP. That was 4 months ago. I am now developing commercial applications in PHP.
Not kidding.
This book does start you off at square 1, but is still a great book for the more advanced programmers. It doesn't cover everything. Nothing can. But it is by far the most referenced book I have. Today it looks so beat up from use that it appears to have been dragged through the kitchen (I literally ate dinner while reading this many times) and looks like I have been sleeping with it for some kind of teddy bear. (Ok, maybe I have.)
The point I am trying to drive home: Buy This Book.
If you want to learn PHP, buy this book. If you want a good reference on how to do XYZ in PHP or MYSQL, buy this book. If you are developing web sites based on PHP, buy this book.
That being said, also buy a MYSQL book while you are at it so you can have access to a reference to expand you query possibilities. The book covers a lot of common SQL queries, but like I said, the book doesn't cover everything. (Any claim to such would be unrealistic.)
Final note: The books says it covers PHP 3 and 4, but don't let that stop you. Everything covered here works in PHP 5 as well. Until Larry here revises this book to include PHP 5, that's right, buy this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic & SQL Server: William R. Vaughn (Microsoft Programming Series)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: William Vaughn
Rating: 5/5
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic & SQL Server: William R. Vaughn (Microsoft Programming Series)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: William Vaughn
Rating: 5/5
This book is chock full of everything you might ever want to know about VB & SQL Server. My major annoyance is that there are not enough code examples. Many times in the book Mr. Vaughn tells you that he knows how to do this and you can do this and that but he fails to provide example code and leaves you pretty much on your own to figure it out. The book would be much better if there were more practical solutions and less banter about his days at Microsoft. He also goes into too much history and evolution. Who cares how the Jet 2.0 used to do things? I want to know how to do things NOW. Perhaps this is very interesting to some folks but me, I buy books to get answers, practical solutions, "How To" scenarios. Mr. Vaughn just beats around the bush too much, and in many instances never illustrates the very thing most programmers want to know; where is the code?
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7 for Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Anthony T. Mann
Rating: 4/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7 for Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Anthony T. Mann
Rating: 4/5
I've used Access 97 for 2 years now and I want to upsize to SQL7. This book offers me the basic overview nearly all aspects of the product.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP 5 Power Programming (Bruce Perens Open Source)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Andi Gutmans, Stig Bakken, Derick Rethans
Rating: 4/5
Title: PHP 5 Power Programming (Bruce Perens Open Source)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Andi Gutmans, Stig Bakken, Derick Rethans
Rating: 4/5
Reasonably experience web or PHP engineers will like this book. The PHP language introduction at the beginning is a brief seventy pages which sets the tone for the rest of the book; fast and concise.
After the first three chapters that introduce PHP there is an excellent chapter on design patterns. From there he heads into PHP application design in another solid chapter that effectively mixes code and illustrations to demonstrate best practices.
I found some fault in the database chapter that follows. He shows the use of string substitution in building SQL queries. This is never ever a good idea because the database access is slow and more importantly, vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. He fixes it though by showing proper use of replacement operators with the section on PEAR.
The heart of the book, which I believe is the first seven chapters, finishes of with a strong chapter on exception handling. The chapters that follow cover XML, regular expressions, file I/O, and graphics. The regular expressions chapter is very good.
There are chapters on installing and configuring PHP and PEAR. There is also a very good chapter on extending PHP with C.
In the appendices are some reference sections. In particular there is a listing of PEAR modules that is handy, but not particularly well organized. I would have much rather have had the modules organized into groups of related technologies.
There is room for improvement. There could be more illustrations, and the text could use some more exposition. But this is a solid book that will be valuable for PHP programmers looking to flesh out their knowledge of the platform.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle PL/SQL 101
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Christopher Allen
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle PL/SQL 101
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Christopher Allen
Rating: 5/5
Amazing Book for Beginners & Intermediate Learners. It gives an In-depth knowledge of Basic SQL and PL/SQL. A really good book.
