IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 with ASP, ColdFusion, and PHP : Training from the Source
Publisher: Macromedia Press
Authors: Jeffrey Bardzell
Rating: 5/5
Title: Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 with ASP, ColdFusion, and PHP : Training from the Source
Publisher: Macromedia Press
Authors: Jeffrey Bardzell
Rating: 5/5
I bought this book because Macromedia didn't provide any manuals with their Studio MX 2004, other than some useless PDF files, and I wanted to know how to use the new MX 2004 version. I thought that this book would have the usual crud with a few pearls of information that in the end would probably make it worth the price. Instead, I found a book that is pure gold. It's well written and if you stay with it, it will teach you quite a bit. If I was to teach a course on Dreamweaver MX 2004, this would be my manual.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Unleashed (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ray Rankins, Paul Jensen, Paul Bertucci
Rating: 4/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Unleashed (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ray Rankins, Paul Jensen, Paul Bertucci
Rating: 4/5
I have found this book very useful while administering my SQL Server instances. This book will grow with you, if you need a more basic book or you need a more advanced reference tool this is the book for you.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: OCP Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Jason Couchman
Rating: 1/5
Title: OCP Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Jason Couchman
Rating: 1/5
This book is structured well for studying as it contains tips, two minute drills, and study questions both within a chapter and at the end of each chapter. The practice exams in the book and CD are good with only a few errors in them. Studying with this book will provide much of the information you need to pass the test, but it does not contain everything. Such as the use of any/all in single-row subqueries as one example. I did passed the test using this book alone (52/57), but I have a few years of SQL experience. While the CD's practice exams are good, I would avoid using the study sessions. There are some many errors in them as to be useless and misleading. I would also start studying with this book by first printing the Errata to make sure you have the latest corrections.
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 met the author recently at TechEd-Dallas and was stunned by his generousity. First, he answered some questions I had about Notification Services and got me going down the right path. Because of his graciousness, we were able to get our new Notification Services application into production the very next week! Second, he was kind enough to inscribe my copy of this book. Though weather-worn and war-torn, he was happy to sign it for me and wrote me some words of encouragement that I'll always treasure. You see, I'd just left a horrid job situation and started a new job when I bought this book. I told Mr. Henderson about this, and he listened patiently as I explained how much his book had meant to me as I tried to get my feet under me quickly with MS SQL. I told him it felt like I had him right there with me helping me master the language. I told him that his book had proved more valuable to me than any other MS SQL book (in fact, *any* book, period) as I made this transition. When he signed my book, he wrote that it made all the hard work and long nights worthwhile when he heard stories like mine and to keep my chin up because some employers just don't realize how lucky they are to have their best people, but that the best people tend to succeed anyway. It was simply wonderful to find someone who not only knows the technology inside-out and writes an excellent book, but who also truly cares for his readers. For that I will always be thankful. Mr. Henderson, you are the definition of "excellence." Please keep up the great work!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 4/5
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 4/5
Potentially the most perfectly formed book in existence, this weighty tome makes all my other geek books shiver with fright. They've been outclassed, they know, their time has come, for the mighty "PHP and MySQL" has made its way onto my shelf. Every chapter is more riveting than the last, I mean, "Gone with the wind" has nothing on this beauty. And those diagrams! They should be framed and hung in the best galleries in the world. Obviously the authors demonstrate a combined devastating intellect which should enable them to conquer bold new frontiers. p.s. Hi Laura and Luke :-)
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Itzik Ben-Gan, Tom Moreau
Rating: 2/5
Title: Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Itzik Ben-Gan, Tom Moreau
Rating: 2/5
On the positive side, there are numerous interesting Transact SQL techniques demonstrated in this book. A couple of them have proved to be very useful to me. I like the exploration of different challenges people face with Transact SQL and the solutions the authors provide.I also like the catalog nature of the book. APress is getting better at this with their books, and this one is pretty good as a reference.On the negative side, the language is misued often in this book. As the old saying goes, "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." There are several problems attacked in this book that would be better solved with a language other than Transact SQL. It is simply the wrong tool. I could offer several examples, but the most obvious one would be the complex numbers discussion. I see others have mentioned this, too. Not only are complex numbers not best handled by Transact SQL, they cannot even be accurately handled by the language. You will quickly become the victim of rounding errors, performance problems, and other devils if you try something like this in production code.Another negative is that authors don't write that well. I have come not to expect a lot from technical books, so I don't think this is that big of a deal. But I would have to say that the writing quality in this one is low even for technical books. For one thing, the two write completely differently and you can see the different styles contrasting in different sections of the book. Add to this the fact that neither style is particularly lucid or engaging, and you have a book that is an editor or two short of being cogent and readable.
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
I can't recommend this text to engouh T-SQL programmers (or dabblers). The content and layout make this one of my favorite SQL references. The clear descriptions of syntax make this one of the first (actual physical text) places I go when I need an explanation or some examples to refresh my memory. I feel that its an important part of any SQL reference library and I'm looking forward to a new edition in the near future.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle SQL*Loader: The Definitive Guide
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Jonathan Gennick, Sanjay Mishra
Rating: 4/5
Title: Oracle SQL*Loader: The Definitive Guide
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Jonathan Gennick, Sanjay Mishra
Rating: 4/5
Very good book on SQL loader. Eveything is in one place and easy to find. Answered all my questions and I got a few ideas about other ways to use SQL loader.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Programming, Third Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steven Feuerstein
Rating: 3/5
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Programming, Third Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steven Feuerstein
Rating: 3/5
O'Reilly publishes good reference books. I always look for one of their books first when I am looking for a book in a given subject area. No one book in their Oracle series has it all, though. Each book covers it's subject area in depth...just make sure you get the right book! If you like the "Whatever For Dummies" kind of books, then O'Reilly books aren't for you. My only knock is that there are more books in the Oracle series than is really necessary...marketing at it's worst! Some of the seperate PL/SQL related books should have been combined into one volume.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ronald R. Plew, Bryan Morgan, Jeff Perkins
Rating: 4/5
Title: Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ronald R. Plew, Bryan Morgan, Jeff Perkins
Rating: 4/5
If your new to SQL and have a very basic understanding of database concepts, this book is for you. I don't care for 99% of the books that claim to teach you something "overnight." Most of them are shallow balony and a waste of paper. I decide to peek inside this book to see what it offered. Glad I did. This book gives a clear and understandable explanation of SQL commands and syntax and points out non-standard uses in certain implementations. I'm only to Day 11 and chapter 10 is the only chapter that seemed to have typo's (so far). So it's worth what you may spend for it.
