IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Chris Lea, Mike Buzzard, Dilip Thomas, Jessey White-Cinis
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Chris Lea, Mike Buzzard, Dilip Thomas, Jessey White-Cinis
Rating: 5/5
This is the most rock solid computer science programming text that i have read in the last decade.Period.No one should miss out on this buy.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Practical SQL Handbook: Using Structured Query Language (3rd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Judith S. Bowman, Sandra L. Emerson, Marcy Darnovsky
Rating: 4/5
Title: The Practical SQL Handbook: Using Structured Query Language (3rd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Judith S. Bowman, Sandra L. Emerson, Marcy Darnovsky
Rating: 4/5
This book is wordily! However if you are new to database stuff then this is a book for you. Otherwise this is not a good reference. Unfortunately my book doesn't come with a CD so I wasn't able to judge the CD yet.
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
I began programming in COBOL in the 70s. My very first applications were database applications. We had no SQL then, only flat file databases and things like CICS. A couple years ago, my company began moving everything to Microsoft SQL Server. I must admit, I've found myself pretty lost at times. The world has changed a bit since IBM mainframes were the order of the day and we patted ourselves on the back for writing readable COBOL. Recently, I came across this book. After reading through it once, I felt a blindfold had been lifted from my eyes. I finally understand MS SQL!! I've now read the book three times and I never fail to find some new nuggest I missed before. The writing is excellent, the examples applicable and detailed, and the coverage is quite deep. People warned me that this book wasn't for beginners before I bought it, but I faired just fine with it. Some passages are more dense than others, but I got through it. All in all, this is a wonderful book that you owe it to yourself to read cover-to-cover if you work with MS SQL.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 2/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 2/5
The XML coverage in this book is not useful for anyone interested in doing full blown XML development. XPATH routines and the amount of time spent on transforming and xquery are not sufficient to get beyond a beginner's stage. There are many beginners writing simple tabular represenations of a table in xml, you may be able to pull that off with this material. But any true development with browser based user input and interactive sqlxml programming simply does not exist in this book. I wish my job only required me to know what is in this book!!! I run a large healthcare IT and we are far far beyond this outdated material. In fact this book is behind the w3c standards and will not even work as shown for what little there is here. My 15 world class programmers have told me this is the last book and series they would turn to for anything. There is no reference material for any arguments or things you don't want to have to open yet another browser session for, when my guys are running 10 to 15 screens doing development. Any good book will spend the pages this one does on the "essays" of no value listing the indispensible tables of values any programmer needs at his fingertips.
Very weak on XML and SQL in general.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Optimizing SQL Server 7: Planning and Building a High-Performance Database (Prentice Hall Series on Microsoft Technologies)
Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr
Authors: Jeffrey R. Garbus, Robert D. Schneider
Rating: 1/5
Title: Optimizing SQL Server 7: Planning and Building a High-Performance Database (Prentice Hall Series on Microsoft Technologies)
Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr
Authors: Jeffrey R. Garbus, Robert D. Schneider
Rating: 1/5
I concur with previous reviews. Just surprised that no one has yet mentioned that the screen captures shown in the book are either from Windows 3.11 or Windows NT 3.5xDid the authors and publisher really think they could get away with this? My God the book dicusses devices and they are in 6.x; not in 7.0. In fact that is one of the market points that even MS addresses.Amazon should pull this book immediately. It is not about SQL Sever 7.0 and to list it as such is very wrong.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle9i: SQL (with an Introduction to PL/SQL)
Publisher: Course Technology
Authors: Lannes Morris-Murphy
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle9i: SQL (with an Introduction to PL/SQL)
Publisher: Course Technology
Authors: Lannes Morris-Murphy
Rating: 5/5
I am a student of Dr. Morris-Murphy at Valencia Community College in Orlando Florida. I am currently studing for my Oracle DataBase Admisistration Certification with the Doctor. This, her first book matches the style of her presentation of PL/SQL in class; clear, precise and simple to understand. After reviewing this book and comparing it to the notes I took during her class I highly recommend that anybody from DBA's to DBD's to students starting their studies in Oracle9i to those who are preparing for the PL/SQL certification test should have this book sitting right next to their PL/SQL Sybex book. In fact I recommend very strongly that anybody who is in the field of Oracle9i should have a copy of this book on their shelf for quick reference.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Administration Study Guide (Book/CD-ROM Set)
Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Syngress
Rating: 1/5
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Administration Study Guide (Book/CD-ROM Set)
Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Syngress
Rating: 1/5
This might make a good 'for dummies' book but did not do a good job achieving it's stated purpose. After reading the Fast Track SQL 7 admin guide (fantastic summary!) over a weekend and failing the exam by only one mark I decided to pick up this book to fill in the gaps. Needless to say the second time I wrote the test after reading this book I got the same mark AGAIN. I found that the Syngress book distracted me from some of the key concepts covered in the exam and filled my brain with fluff that didn't help clarify anything.If you're looking to pass the exam I would recommend picking up the Fast Track guide and using books on line. You'll be miles ahead and a few bucks richer!This is definitely a difficult exam and almost impossible to pass without a significant amount of hands on study with a couple of test systems.Good luck!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7 for Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Anthony T. Mann
Rating: 2/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7 for Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Anthony T. Mann
Rating: 2/5
I'm new to SQL/SQL Server, and was looking for a basic intro to the package. The book does an excellent job introducing all of the features and functions, but not much else. Real-world examples were there, but very limited. As I read, I often found myself asking, in a manner of speaking, "sure, that's what button I push, but WHY do I push it?"I did walk away with an appreciation for the complexity of SQL Server 7. Save yourself the cash, and read the product documentation instead.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Chris Lea, Mike Buzzard, Dilip Thomas, Jessey White-Cinis
Rating: 4/5
Title: PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Chris Lea, Mike Buzzard, Dilip Thomas, Jessey White-Cinis
Rating: 4/5
This is the most rock solid computer science programming text that i have read in the last decade.Period.No one should miss out on this buy.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Database Systems Using Oracle: A Simplified Guide to SQL and PL/SQL
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Authors: Nilesh D. Shah
Rating: 5/5
Title: Database Systems Using Oracle: A Simplified Guide to SQL and PL/SQL
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Authors: Nilesh D. Shah
Rating: 5/5
This book is remarkable for the clear manner in which it explains the basics of relational databases in general and Oracle in particular. I am currently in training for Oracle Certified Professional and had been using study guides and class material to learn Oracle. These are fine for passing the OCP exam, but they leave many gaps in the finer points which lead to thoroughly understanding Oracle.Since this book's goal is to explain Oracle's SQL Plus and PL/SQL languages instead of getting you through an examination with a passing grade it goes into details that my training missed. I especially like the way that database concepts, design and modeling are covered in the first chapter, and the step-by-step approach to teaching SQL and PL/SQL by actually performing useful tasks such as creating tables and working with tables. In addition to the basics, this book covers advanced topics such as row locking, performance and joins and set operations. PL/SQL is given the same thorough treatment as SQL Plus and as you read through the book and actually perform the tasks on a real Oracle instance your understanding and skill level increases greatly. Since PL/SQL is rich in features and programming constructs the care with which the author explains the basics and how to apply them in a real environment made learning fun and builds your self confidence. I also liked the attention given to database administration tasks in the final part of the book, and found the SQL Plus and PL/SQL quick reference in the back of the book useful on many occasions.If you don't have the luxury of attending Oracle training this book is an excellent substitute, and even if you're going through OCP training this book will fill in the gaps that will surely arise since the course is fast paced. Note that this book uses Oracle 8i as the example environment, but the material works with the newer 9i version too.
