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
PHP And MySQL Web Development teaches the reader to develop dynamic, secure e-commerce Web sites. The reader will learn to integrate and implement these technologies by following real-world examples and working sample projects. PHP And MySQL Web Development also covers related technologies needed to build a commercial Web site such as SSL, shopping carts, and payment systems. Intermediate - Advanced, 880pp.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: .NET Enterprise Design with Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server 2000
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Jimmy Nilsson, Jimmy Nilsson
Rating: 5/5
Title: .NET Enterprise Design with Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server 2000
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Jimmy Nilsson, Jimmy Nilsson
Rating: 5/5
I've been working with SQL Server since it was released over a decade ago and building business components for enterprise aps for quite a few years. I have spent hours searching for a book that addressed performance, scalability, data access and other real world issues. This has been by far the best book I've read on that subject - and, even better, it's centered around .NET (however, even seasoned COM+/DNA developers would gain a lot from this book).The author's .NET architecture proposal is very close to what we've been doing with COM+/DNA for several years in real applications. We're going to implement some of the author's suggestions on tracing and error logging. The author is not afraid to make some non standard (to some developers) suggestions on implementing business rules, transactions and efficient data access. The author has definitely provided me with inspiration rather than definitive solutions (which he states in the Preface).I agree with the Tucson (1/22/02) reviewer that this book is not a teaching book on .NET and SQL Server, but rather provides solid suggestions for building real world enterprise applications. Even so, many code examples are shown that illustrate the author's points.Especially interesting is the author's candid reflection of the pros and cons of his suggestions relative to factors to consider in choosing a solution.FYI, I have no relationship with the author or publisher, just a very satisfied reader. I've already recommended this book highly to many of my peers.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Jonathan Gennick
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Jonathan Gennick
Rating: 5/5
Oracle was new to me, although I've worked with other RDBMSs, and I needed a reference for the SQL Plus interface. Gennick's book turned out to be just the thing. The writing is clear, there are lots of examples, and the topics are inclusive -- from the basic environment to advanced scripting and tuning. I've recommended this book to students.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Kalen Delaney
Rating: 4/5
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Kalen Delaney
Rating: 4/5
If you're looking to really understand the core engine of SQL Server and how to optimize your code, this is a really good book. If you're a database architect, this book may be a little too microscopic for you, lacking in design strategy. Surprisingly, I think this is actually a great book for the DBA - the discussions on the underlying mechanics are second to none.This book is named very appropriately. The author does an excellent job detailing what goes on under the hood of SQL Server. As an example, she exposes the details of the Bulk Change Map pages in database files and how they work in relationship with the Bulk Logged recovery mode, new to SQL Server 2000. It's one thing to read and memorize what can and can't be accomplished in Bulk Logged recovery mode, but it's a totally different feeling being enlightened on why it works the way it works. There are many core principles in how SQL Server operates that the author describes in detail.Here what I wished to have seen more coverage on: 1. Replication - this book does not cover replication. There are other books that show you how to point and click (I guess those point-and-click picture books will be called "Outside SQL Server 2000"), but none I've seen go into the "Inside" level. 2. Distributed Partitioned Views - This book shows how to create a distributed partitioned views, but it stops there. There are very important design considerations such as knowing where to place your data so as to minimize joins across the network. 3. Indexed Views - Same as distributed partitioned views - ends at the "how to create". I'd like to see how it works under the hood. 4. One way to classify this book is that it is very "server-centric". Many of us work on systems of database servers that work in concert under the application layer. I'd like to see more inter-server ("system-centric") insights.It really wouldn't be fair for me to ask for clustering or log shipping in this book - those really aren't developer issues. Clustering is much more of a Windows 2000 feature than a SQL Server feature. If you're interested in clustering or log shipping, check out the SQL Server 2000 Admin Companion and the SQL Server 2000 Resource Kit.Given the microscopic details packed into about 1000 pages, I found myself relying on Books Online for supplement. Many times, however, this book is actually more in depth than Books Online. I do agree with a few other reviewers that there's a lot of similarity with the version 7.0 of this book; however, there are many aspects of the products that are the same as well. If you really read the two books, though, you'll find that the 2000 version of the book is actually more in depth than the 7.0 version.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Mastering Oracle SQL
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Sanjay Mishra, Alan Beaulieu
Rating: 5/5
Title: Mastering Oracle SQL
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Sanjay Mishra, Alan Beaulieu
Rating: 5/5
A clear explaination of how to use multiple nested views has saved the day. I can now run a single query on my large table (the table has 83 Million rows in it) and it completes by in a few hours. I have enjoyed reading it and becoming more experienced in SQL. In the past I would use Perl/DBI to access the database but now I do it through sqlplus because of the large datasets I am working with. I wish I bought this book a loong time ago.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Ron Soukup, Kalen Delaney
Rating: 3/5
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Ron Soukup, Kalen Delaney
Rating: 3/5
Trying to get your mind around OLAP Server? Guess we'll have to wait for an OLAP book. MDX? Not even in the index! Will DTS suffice for your ETL problems? No help here. English Query? Nope. These are classified as tools that ship with SQL Server, and when they are mentioned, the reader is pointed towards Books Online.The book appears to be a straight revision of the 6.5 edition - you might get by with that edition and the documentation that ships with SQL Server 7.0. I'd give it five stars for describing the core product in detail - its stated mission - but leaving out the new toys???
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCSE: SQL Server 2000 Design Study Guide (Exam 70-229)
Publisher: Sybex
Authors: Marc Israel, J. Steven Jones, Marc Israel, Steve Jones
Rating: 4/5
Title: MCSE: SQL Server 2000 Design Study Guide (Exam 70-229)
Publisher: Sybex
Authors: Marc Israel, J. Steven Jones, Marc Israel, Steve Jones
Rating: 4/5
Good book, but certainly not the best book SYBEX has produced. I used SYBEX books for all 6 exams for MCSE WinNT, and passed all 6 the first time. Now I am pursuing MCDBA SQL 2000 certification. I used SYNGRESS to study for exam 70-228 "SQL Admin" and passed, however due to the unavailablility of a SYNGRESS book for 70-229 "SQL Design" I bought this SYBEX book AND FAILED THE EXAM. The book lacks enough 'hands on' excersizes, particularly regarding using views, stored procedures, and user-defined functions. Also, as you read through the book you can 'feel' it was co-authored. Much of the book is somewhat hard to read, but the chapters on Accessing, Inserting, and Updating Data are very easy to read with many hands-on exercizes. The chapter reviews are pretty useless for actually 'reviewing' the material, as it really only lists the topics covered and provides very little summary information of what was actually covered in the chapter. SYNGRESS books provide an excellent "2 minute drill" at the end of each chapter to review the details, but this SYBEX book does not contain any such tool.The SYNGESS/Osborne book for MCDBA exam 70-229 "SQL Design" is due out in November, and I would recommend considering the SYNGRESS book before this SYBEX book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: OCP Developer PL/SQL Program Units Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Steve O'Hearn
Rating: 4/5
Title: OCP Developer PL/SQL Program Units Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Steve O'Hearn
Rating: 4/5
I have bought the book "Oracle - OCP Developer PL/SQL Program Units Exam Guide (Exam 1ZO-101). It's a great book. Only one defect! Using the CD of BeachFromQuizzer I account for an error : in all the subcategories except for 01 Overview of PL/SQL and 3 Practise Test the button EXPLAIN is not enable.
In phase of Study session this button is useful and important...
Sometimes the cd shows wrong answer too.That's all!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Optimizing Transact-SQL : Advanced Programming Techniques
Publisher: SQL Forum Press
Authors: David Rozenshtein, Anatoly Abramovich, Eugene Birger
Rating: 1/5
Title: Optimizing Transact-SQL : Advanced Programming Techniques
Publisher: SQL Forum Press
Authors: David Rozenshtein, Anatoly Abramovich, Eugene Birger
Rating: 1/5
This tiny book is just a collection of old magazine articles -- even the "chapters" refer to themselves as "articles." Also, the techniques presented in the articles are not practical. If you write code like this, you'll be run out of town by others who have to work on your code. It reminds me of some of the weird let-me-show-you-how-clever-I-am MSDOS batch file techniques you used to see circulating. Time to try a new approach, fellas. I don't care how small the code is if it ain't readable. A little pile of dog poop is still a pile of dog poop.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 5/5
The title is PHP and MySQL Web Development, but while it covers these subject in satisfying depth, it touches on many adjacent subjects such as security (transmission, storage, theory), and E-Commerce (theory and how to impliment using PHP/MySQL). It is very well laid out, making it easy to find what you're looking for. You can pick up anywhere in the book and be able to understand without having read previous chapters.
