IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server 2000 XML Distilled
Publisher: Curlingstone
Authors: Kevin Williams, Bryant Likes, Andrew Novick, Daryl Barnes, Paul Morris, Simon Sabin, Steve Mohr, Andrew Polshaw, Jeni Tennison
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server 2000 XML Distilled
Publisher: Curlingstone
Authors: Kevin Williams, Bryant Likes, Andrew Novick, Daryl Barnes, Paul Morris, Simon Sabin, Steve Mohr, Andrew Polshaw, Jeni Tennison
Rating: 5/5
This book is an excellent addition to the documentation provided with SQLXML, especially if you are just starting to use SQLXML. The book helps you decide if SQLXML is right for your situation. If it is, the book will continue to walk you through some real examples, covering some of the pros and cons of different methods. Being a developer, I highly recommend this book if you are using or considering to use SQLXML in a Microsoft environment.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Test Yourself Practice Exams (Exams 70-028 & 70-029)
Publisher: Osborne Publishing Rating: 3/5
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Test Yourself Practice Exams (Exams 70-028 & 70-029)
Publisher: Osborne Publishing Rating: 3/5
I just passed 70-029, this was one of the books i bought for preparing, and the only one i didnt need. The questions are not representative for the real test, and not all are well worded. The real test is more clearly worded and much more difficult. This book is ok for testing your knowledge, and you can learn many things from it, but i found it to be bad use of valuable time.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional SQL Server Reporting Services
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Paul Turley, Todd Bryant, James Counihan, George McKee, Dave DuVarney
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional SQL Server Reporting Services
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Paul Turley, Todd Bryant, James Counihan, George McKee, Dave DuVarney
Rating: 5/5
This book does an excellent, thorough job of introducing the product (which is awesome!), and then going all the way through to advanced coding & custom manipulation. The authors have clearly presented the material in a comfortable style, while remaining seriously technical. As a consultant, seminar presenter, and MS2030 trainer, I use this book extensively as a reference as well as a recomendation. My background includes over 10 years of varied development, & reporting.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Murach's SQL for SQL Server
Publisher: Mike Murach & Associates
Authors: Bryan Syverson
Rating: 5/5
Title: Murach's SQL for SQL Server
Publisher: Mike Murach & Associates
Authors: Bryan Syverson
Rating: 5/5
I picked up this book last week and I have to say
what an excellent book it is! I have been using SQL
syntax for ten years but have always been intimidated by SQL Server. Not
anymore! This book is the best book I have ever read on ANY computer topic.
The two-page format makes it easy to learn a new skill. The examples are
clear and easy to follow. I was especially impressed with the writers ability to
start with simple examples and expand on them from there. The CD that comes with he book includes an evaluaton copy of SQL Server so you have everything you need to start right away.
If you don't learn SQL Server from this book, then there is little hope you ever will!
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
If you love mathematics or statistics, you will find this book a wonderful companion for learning advanced Transact-SQL. Just about everything you can do with the language is shown here, with detailed examples and tutorial for each language feature. Henderson successfully shows how to use Transact-SQL as an advanced set algebra language along the lines of pure mathematics languages. You learn to code up statistical functions that are not only accurate and functional, but also fast. Henderson shows how to turn SQL Server into a data-enabled statistical computation engine, something I've not seen anyone else do.Some of the code presented will cause you to bend your mind a bit as you begin to view Transact-SQL in a different light. But it's worth the struggle because, when you're finished, you'll be a guru yourself.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCSE Database Design on SQL Server 7 Exam Cram (Exam: 70-029)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Jeffrey Garbus, David Pacuzzi, Alvin Chang, David Pascuzzi
Rating: 3/5
Title: MCSE Database Design on SQL Server 7 Exam Cram (Exam: 70-029)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Jeffrey Garbus, David Pacuzzi, Alvin Chang, David Pascuzzi
Rating: 3/5
I've purchased the Exam Cram for Java 2 and loved it. However, this one is rather a disappointment, as the book failed to cover some of the detailed questions on the exam and hands-on practice on database design. The exam itself is extremely difficult (took me 3 tries, each failing by a margin of 1 or 2 questions). There are some questions asking you how to identify a flawed database design w/ scripts, E-R diagrams, listing you 7+ choices of requirements. One wrong, all wrong. Consult the BOL, but be aware that even the BOL does not have all of the answers. To pass, you need 1)experience with RDBMS, including familiarity w/ T-SQL syntax to create and design DB objects 2)the braindumps - be sure to check the answers with the BOL 3)consult the SQL Server web site and download the whitepapers, particularly on Performance Tuning and Storage 4)lots of patience and dilligence. Best of luck to all of you.
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
What really sets this book apart from the other SQL Server books I have is the attention to detail. There is no stone left unturned in terms of the language -- it's many quirks, nuances, and hidden features. From a collection of sprocs that implement better soundex routines than SOUNDEX(), to the gory details of cursors and transactions, to over a hundred undocumented routines/features of the language, this book has it all.I spoke with the author at a conference this past weekend and asked whether any of the techniques he mentioned in his speeches were also in his book. When he told me all of them were, I went out and purchased the book immediately. Holy Toledo!! The book is an expert's catalog of all that's worth knowing about Transact-SQL! I was blown away by all the code. I've never seen a programming book of any kind with so many examples, let alone a database programming book. I've learned so many new techniques with this book. For example, I had no idea you could perform OLE Automation with Transact-SQL. The sp_GenerateSQL procedure is a real gem -- it uses Automation to control SQL Server's SQL-DMO interface and basically do anything Enterprise Manager can do (all from T-SQL!). I now use this procedure anytime I need to generate an SQL script for an object -- no need to fire up EM.The row-positioning queries are priceless too. Who knew you could compute the median of a distribution set of any size with just a few lines of T-SQL? Who knew how to perform complex operations results with T-SQL? I had no idea.Last by not least, the Undocumented T-SQL chapter is worthy of its own book. It uncovers all sorts of hidden stored procedures, functions, trace flags and the like to give you access to the same tools the SQL Server developers themselves use. I love it.Bottom line: this is a wonderfully practical and comprehensive guide to the language, written by a T-SQL guru for those who would become T-SQL gurus themselves.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Building Your Business with Google For Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Brad Hill
Rating: 5/5
Title: Building Your Business with Google For Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Brad Hill
Rating: 5/5
This has got to be one of the best references I've seen that addresses what can be done with online marketing using Google AdWords. AdWords is a confusing but powerful program, and this book offers an excellent primer to becoming an effective AdWords user. That's the primary reason I bought it. There seems to be no end to the ways you can use Google to promote your business. This book helped me familiarize myself with several tools I hadn't looked into beforehand.Also a good intro to search engine marketing. I purchased Search Engine Optimization For Dummies at the same time that I bought this book. Also an excellent reference. Both highly recommended.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional PHP Programming
Publisher:
Authors: Jesus Castagnetto, Sascha Schumann, Harish Rawat, Chris Scollo, Deepak T. Veliath
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional PHP Programming
Publisher:
Authors: Jesus Castagnetto, Sascha Schumann, Harish Rawat, Chris Scollo, Deepak T. Veliath
Rating: 5/5
This has been THE PHP book I've been waiting for. Well written, great analogies, loads of examples. If you want to learn PHP this is the book, esp. for those with a passing understanding of Perl, or shell scripting, or C, C++, etc. I can't praise this book enough.
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'm a programmer with just enough Transact-SQL experience to have bad habits. I spent ages searching for a book that could fill the holes in my basic understanding while providing more complex, useable examples of how experts squeeze the best out of SQL Server. Ken Henderson's "The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL" fits the profile exactly.This book has provided a workable, easily-understood common standard amongst all the programmers in our shop. Henderson's techniques are consistent, clear and as free of jargon as possible with such a complex subject. I wish we'd started with this book, rather than finding it along the way by accident, because it would have saved us even more time and money.We have seen quite startling improvements in the performance of our SQL Server code since adopting the "Henderson Method" of writing T-SQL. In our view, there are many experts, but only One Guru. Well done!
