IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server High Availability
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Paul Bertucci
Rating: 5/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server High Availability
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Paul Bertucci
Rating: 5/5
In the early days of PC's no one thought much about trying to keep up a system 24x7x365. The hardware wouldn't do it, the software wouldn't do it, and for a system that was primarily something you used for personal use on your desktop it really didn't matter much. You probably turned it off each evening anyway.
But those times have changed. The modern PC is a PC in name only. Put in a couple of high speed Pentium 4's or Opterons and you have a system more powerful than those running airline reservations systems a few years back. Add the web and e-commerce and you have systems that you really don't want to go down at all. Now you are into the realm of High Availability or since this is the computer industry - HA.
Microsoft, in the past was not too concerned with HA. If you wanted HA you had to go Unix. But in recent years Microsoft has developed Cluster Services for both the operating system and SQL Server along with other technologies to enable HA.
This book is divided into three main sections:
Understanding High Availability
Choosing the Right High Availability Approaches
Implementing High Availability.
In summary, this book is HA the Microsoft Way.
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
If I could only have one book by my side while working with SQL Server, this would be it.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Program Units
Publisher: Course Technology
Authors: Joan Casteel
Rating: 3/5
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Program Units
Publisher: Course Technology
Authors: Joan Casteel
Rating: 3/5
This book is a text book. It has good exercises to learn from. It is a little difficult to use as a reference book. It could use some more tables and examples.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server 7 Essential Reference
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Sharon Dooley
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server 7 Essential Reference
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Sharon Dooley
Rating: 5/5
As databases become more and more common, network engineers without prior training are becoming responsible for database administration and they need to become competent quickly. This book touches base with all the important points in database and server administration in a clear, concise format that quickly educates the reader, guides them to important activities, and steers them around obscure obstacles.Sharon Dooley takes a practical, hands-on approach to database administration that reflects a wealth of field experience. Having read my way through more than 5 SQL books already I might have passed on one entitled SQL Server 7.0 Essential Reference, expecting it to be too basic. What I found was a perceptive field guide to managing a SQL Server. This book provides a clear, understandable review of administration topics that is useful to experienced administrators for the richness of knowledge revealed while remaining an excellent book for persons new to database work who need an introduction that is at once accessible, concise, and relevant.I disagreed with the author about the value of defragmenting SQL Servers and believe that if she is going to say that there has been no proof of the value of defrag software she needs to deal with the findings of the National Software Testing Laboratory on Diskeeper. She also says that Microsoft is fuzzy about supporting defragged databases and yet Diskeeper was one of the first products to gain the Certified for Windows logo. I think she is out of date in this area. I also thought her distrust of third-party backup software needed more defense as I personally have not run into problems though she alluded to many. Other than these specific points I found the material to be outstanding and I would acknowledge that there is room for disagreement on these points.For the experienced administrator the book reveals undocumented and falsely documented issues that can improve administration. The book is very realistic about what can and cannot be done on a SQL Server. I liked the point made that server tuning can only account for about 10% of performance while the bulk of what really matters is in database design.Upgrading from 6.X to 7.0 is covered very nicely. The author provides useful suggestions for dealing with what might not convert seamlessly in an upgrade. I have worked with SQLdiag numerous times. Sharon Dooley is the first person that has clarified that this utility must be run directly on the server; it cannot run from a client workstation. I liked the way she touched on many of the places where an administrator could go wrong. The discussion of SQL Mail reviews how to make it work with Lotus Notes as well as POP3 and Exchange. Previously I had thought that if I did not have an Exchange Server available I could not setup email alerts. Books On Line is not as helpful here as is Sharon Dooley.This book is like having an experienced DBA standing right beside you interpreting the fine points and telling you about undocumented or misdocumented features while you do your everyday work. The general tips and warnings alone are more than worth the cost of the book.
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 have read this entire book. It's a good book, I would recommend to anyone who is interested in PHP and MySQL. Unfortunately, it looks a little bit think that may discourage you at first but it covers all what you need.
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 certainly like the way its written. You're definitely learning a lot, by buying this book and reading it. A lot of tricks are given to bypass certain limitations of MS-SQL. It definitely shows you how to produce professionnel code( spoc that helps you comments your spoc). I'm actually not a wiz in T-SQL, so i was expecting more concept on how to write good code. I thought the section on .Net was taking to many precious pages of this book. I'm still happy that i bought this book. My skill weren't ready for this type of information.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 24 Hours (3rd Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ryan Stephens, Ron Plew
Rating: 5/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 24 Hours (3rd Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ryan Stephens, Ron Plew
Rating: 5/5
Having been babied by Access for years, I knew that I needed to get more into SQL itself if I wanted to successfully move to SQL Server or any other platform. This book was easy to use, has a good index (which seems rare in computer books these days) and hits all the important points about SQL that you need to know. The process is step-by-step, and the steps are logically organized. It provides information about multiple platforms, including syntax for Sybase, SQL Server, and Oracle, where necessary. Its nice to see a book that's not product-centered. There's also an excellent quick reference at the back of the book that I have permanently bookmarked and refer to it constantly when I need reminding about syntax. Haven't found a better SQL book yet, and this one is the go-to SQL book for our team.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: 10 Projects You Can Do with Microsoft,(r) SQL Server 7
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Authors: Karen Watterson, Bill Shadish, Garth Wells
Rating: 5/5
Title: 10 Projects You Can Do with Microsoft,(r) SQL Server 7
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Authors: Karen Watterson, Bill Shadish, Garth Wells
Rating: 5/5
I used two of the Projects immediately.As a new user of SQL, my understanding has been greatly enhanced by reviewing the theory and then seeing it applied in a project.I hope other authors follow the format of this book.
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 book was recommended to me by several people in a PHP web forum. I found it at a book store and bought it. At the time I didn't think it was that great. At the time I was just beginning PHP and didn't know much about it. If you are a beginner, I'd strongly recommend "Php Fast & Easy Web Development" by Julie C. Meloni. After you have read that book, I STRONGLY recommend getting this book! While "PHP Fast & Easy" will help you get started with PHP, this book will help you begin to fully understand how to program in PHP and develop complex PHP applications (like message boards and templating systems). So in short, while this book is probably not for absolute beginners, it is a must-buy for those with some PHP experience!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Official Guide to Mini SQL 2.0
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Authors: Brian Jepson, David J. Hughes
Rating: 4/5
Title: Official Guide to Mini SQL 2.0
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Authors: Brian Jepson, David J. Hughes
Rating: 4/5
Boy, was I glad when this book finally came out. Sure, there are mailing lists and discussion groups devoted to MiniSQL (aka mSQL), but what I really wanted was a well-edited, authoritative guide to the best nearly free SQL database implementation. "Official Guide to MiniSQL 2.0" is almost everything I was hoping for. It certainly is authoritative, given that mSQL's creator, David Hughes, is the coauthor. It's also comprehensive, covering not only what mSQL can do but also, and more importantly for practical purposes, how you can interface with mSQL via Java, Perl, and other languages by using existing APIs. The downside to that breadth of coverage, however, is fewer examples of complete database applications. Ironically, mSQL doesn't really need the in-depth coverage as much as do the various APIs (from MsqlPerl to DBD::mSQL). Nevertheless, "Offical Guide to MiniSQL 2.0" is an indispensable resource for anyone using or considering MiniSQL.
