IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Web Application Development with PHP 4.0 (with CD-ROM)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Tobias Ratschiller, Till Gerken
Rating: 5/5
Title: Web Application Development with PHP 4.0 (with CD-ROM)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Tobias Ratschiller, Till Gerken
Rating: 5/5
I realize that for experienced programmers, this book brings up a lot of standard topics, but for someone like me (I majored in Art at college) it brings up issues that I really hadn't ever thought of before and as a result I not only have become a better programmer, but I can understand and respect a lot of the decisions that real programmer make.
In particular its discussion on writing organized code should be required reading for all those self-taught webmasters out there.
I didn't really learn much about PHP by reading this book, but I now approach problems differently that I did before. If I was managing a team of programmers, I would make this book required reading because I think it makes some very good arguments for being a disciplined organized programmer instead of just a hacker.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache Security
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ivan Ristic
Rating: 4/5
Title: Apache Security
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ivan Ristic
Rating: 4/5
Ideally, this book should not exist. Because no one would try to intrude onto your Apache server. Besides, you don't mind a stranger being able to to that anyway, eh? After all, surely there is nothing important on your server's disk and in the computer on which it runs?
If you agree with the above, then stop reading.
Otherwise, reflect on a symptom of our times. As intrusion attacks become more sophisticated and your Apache perhaps has to guard valuable data, then its security has been promoted to an entire book. Basically, all of its material has been discussed elsewhere, but often scattered across the literature.
Here, Ristic gives an extended discussion of many aspects. Some of this involves educating you about related topics. Especially a PKI and how to integrate Apache with it. The book skims over any serious crypto complications, but explains how to use such a system.
Ristic also devotes a chapter to Denial of Service attacks. These can be low tech brute force affairs. Or perhaps a cracker might mobilise a massive botnet to launch a DDoS, which is the more dangerous form. There are ways to militate against these. But since the book is about Apache, it does not devote enough space to the use of an Intrusion Detection System or Intrusion Prevention System, in conjunction with upstream routers. Apache by itself is not enough to defend against the worst DoS attacks.
The book also mentions phishing. It claims the problem is hard and that there are no quick remedies. It's a reasonable assessment of the commonly understood state of the publicly known antiphishing methods. Though this does not preclude the deployment of better methods that are not yet publicly known. [I am the co-inventor of 15 US Patents Pending on antiphishing, which our company plans on implementing.]
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: William R. Vaughn
Rating: 3/5
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: William R. Vaughn
Rating: 3/5
I was hoping for a HOW-TO type of book and thought it would be. It is not a HOW-TO type of book. This book is a discussion about the various ways that VB can attach to a database and why to use those particular avenues. The first 2/3 of the book is a leading up to ADO but once you are there, the how-to part is NOT.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle8i Advanced PL/SQL Programming
Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Authors: Scott Urman
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle8i Advanced PL/SQL Programming
Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Authors: Scott Urman
Rating: 5/5
This book explains Oracle8i PL/SQL features and could be used as guide or reference. Advanced Queueing, work with Blobs and many other packages are explained.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 (Microsoft Programming Series)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: Ron Soukup
Rating: 5/5
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 (Microsoft Programming Series)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: Ron Soukup
Rating: 5/5
Surprizingly, this is a reference book that can actually be read, a 'Soul Of A New Machine' for MS SQL Server. It is also the only book to have a useful section on Extended Stored Procedures in the whole search list and includes working C code on the CD ROM. Its ended more than its share of my rants about how lame SQL Server can be in places by explaining why a design decision was made. This book will quickly become an old friend because its like sitting next to the design team on a long flight and having them fill you in on how the product was actually built. For all of its strengths though, its more of a thought piece than a 'how to' piece. Try ISBN 0-672-31190-9 for DBA instruction and ISBN 0-672-31244-1 for programming Triggers, Stored Procedures etc. Personally I find it gratifying that Microsoft still honors intellect enought to publish such a book. After 25+ years of programming I really enjoy hearing from the 'Grey Beards'. You have to have this one!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 4/5
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 4/5
I have been using PHP in various forms for over a year, and would not consider developing a site without it. I have the complete PHP manual printed out on paper and the HTML version stored in a sacred place on my hard drive. I refer to both often.Like most burgeoning open-source technologies, PHP has the technology developed first, docs second -- sometimes a very distant second. Although the manuals at the PHP site are very good, they do leave a bit to be desired when it comes to real-world examples. They're primarily academic in nature and aimed at folks who already understand programming.This book starts with some programming basics applied specifically to the PHP enviroment, fleshes out the manuals with real-world exmaples, and much more. It's a must-have for anyone developing in PHP or even considering it. The examples are clear and concise. I learned quite a bit from a quick scan, and I considered myself a bit of an expert.My only criticism would stem from the layout of the book istelf. There are many many source code listings, and references to these listings in the text often occur several pages before or after the listings themselves. This necessitates quite a bit of really unncessary page turning. Many of the source cod listings are very short and could have easily been contained on the same apge as the references.If not for this, I would rate the book 5 stars -- the content is worth it. Given the price and complexities of competing technologies (ASP, Cold Fusion, etc.), PHP is a steal -- it's free. We need books like this to help keep that community alive. Good job Leon!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL: The Complete Reference, Second Edition
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: James R Groff, Paul N. Weinberg
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL: The Complete Reference, Second Edition
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: James R Groff, Paul N. Weinberg
Rating: 5/5
I'm the next person to truly recommend this book. Buy it, keep it and take care of it. You'll always have a peek at it, because who can really remember everything about SQL? The best bit about the book is that it is really written using Standard SQL (ANSI). (It does supply some additional information about other specific SQL language differences)This is one of those books I'd loved to have had during the long time-consuming quest of learning SQL. It would have saved tons of time and a lot of frustration.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Bible with CD-ROM
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Paul Nielsen
Rating: 5/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Bible with CD-ROM
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Paul Nielsen
Rating: 5/5
I've been using T-SQL professionally for over six years. SQL Server 2000 Bible has taught me more detail and depth about the tools that I use, and I enjoyed the author's style and humor. He made the concepts clear and understandable, great for the beginner or the experienced programmer. I reccomend this for anyone who wants to learn to take SQL Server to it's highest potential.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCDBA Administering SQL Server 2000 Study Guide (Exam 70-228)
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Joyjit Mukherjee
Rating: 1/5
Title: MCDBA Administering SQL Server 2000 Study Guide (Exam 70-228)
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Joyjit Mukherjee
Rating: 1/5
I would have to say that for a book I haven't cracked open yet, other than to have installed the CD with test questions, my 2 month old could have done a better job is this is indicative of the quality of the text. If the quality of the book text mirrors the quality of the practice CD, you'll need to swing by the store and get some Huggies.Errors, errors, errors. Dead-wrong answers in the on-line tests AND 'check all that apply' when radio buttons (only one answer can be chosen) makes me believe that my studying the content of the book will hurt my chances on the exam.How in the world did this guy get a book published? I sent an email to the publisher, but have had no reply as of yet.Will write another review IF I get a response. I would like to believe that the CD content was developed by Perkovich's intern on their second day on the job. Let's hope so, as I begin to read and study...Good luck on this one.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Writing Apache Modules with Perl and C
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lincoln Stein, Doug MacEachern
Rating: 4/5
Title: Writing Apache Modules with Perl and C
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lincoln Stein, Doug MacEachern
Rating: 4/5
Not much there for C, although it's not too difficult to make use of the Perl topics and covert them to C, it's more geared towards Perl (much more). That's too bad. Still, it's a good book and is very useful for referencing as well as for people looking to learn more about this topic.
