IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
I have been looking for a book like this for a long time. Thank you very much for it. It's the first SQL Server programming book I've seen that doesn't treat you like an idiot. Mr. Henderson assumes you know what you're doing and simply want to get better at it. I consider myself somewhere between a beginner and an middle-level stored procedure builder and this book fit me just fine. I learn something practically every time I pick the book up. This is not your father's computer book. In fact I'll bet you will have trouble putting it down. For once a fresh approach has been taken to teaching this very complex subject. In the hands of a capable teacher such as Mr. Henderson, you will learn more than you could ever have hoped to from other books. I highly recommend this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle SQL : Jumpstart with Examples
Publisher: Digital Press
Authors: Gavin JT Powell, Carol McCullough-Dieter
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle SQL : Jumpstart with Examples
Publisher: Digital Press
Authors: Gavin JT Powell, Carol McCullough-Dieter
Rating: 5/5
This book brings you a comprehensive reference of Oracle SQL, explained with lots of useful examples.
Well written, clear and simple to follow, Mr.Powell makes an easy reading. Lots of 10g samples and references as well.
Definitely a must have.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Mastering SQL
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Martin Gruber
Rating: 3/5
Title: Mastering SQL
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Martin Gruber
Rating: 3/5
I have to agree with the other reviewer that it was a hard read, however, it is worth more than 1 star. I have it three because there is some good information, but it was definitely difficult to get through. It reads more like a reference book than a how to.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Beginning PHP 5 and MySQL: From Novice to Professional
Publisher: Apress
Authors: W. J. Gilmore
Rating: 4/5
Title: Beginning PHP 5 and MySQL: From Novice to Professional
Publisher: Apress
Authors: W. J. Gilmore
Rating: 4/5
PHP and MySql are two very successful open source packages. Here, Gilmore tries to explain both within the covers of one book. If you just need to learn one, you can certainly use this book for it. The book cleaves neatly into three parts. One on PHP. One on MySQL. And the last part on combining the two packages.
Gilmore chose this mixture to, in essence, use one as a foil for the other. The key chapters are at the end, where he demonstrates how to integrate the two packages. In doing so, you can see in a non-trivial fashion, how to more fully use the expressive power of both. If you like, consider the MySql as an important use case for PHP, and vice versa.
Granted, this makes for longer reading and assimilation of the details. But the tradeoff is that potentially, Gilmore offers you a positive sum game over learning each package in isolation.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server 2000 Web Application Developer's Guide
Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Authors: Craig Utley
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server 2000 Web Application Developer's Guide
Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Authors: Craig Utley
Rating: 5/5
As someone who uses SQL Server, I needed to learn how to build some web applications. This book does a great job of taking you through the basics of how ASPs work and then building on that theme to build web sites that integrate with SQL Server data. The book spends short but quality time on SQL Server itself, instead focusing on ASPs and ADO. There are excellent chapters on ADO and building COM+ components. Utley's approach to teaching the basics and then progressing to the more complex topics is well done and logical, making the book easy to follow.Is the book perfect? No. I would have liked more on XML. But, overall, this is an excellent book that I would recommend for any SQL Server using building web apps with Active Server Pages. In fact, even if you aren't using SQL Server, this book has a lot to offer!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Boxed Set
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Boxed Set
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
If you're thinking of setting up a database to keep track of your local phone book or kitchen recipes, go get something else. (That is, if the price hasn't already told you that.) Note the title: The Guro's Guide. And he means it.
If you're a database developer or administrator using Microsoft SQL Server, get this book today. It would be nice to think that all the big databases met the ANSI standard and were therefore truly portable from database to database and it would be nice to have a Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny. Instead we are left with really having to understand deeply. And this Guru knows what's going on where.
There are three books in this series. I'm more into programming so I found the book on Transact-Sql to be the one that I pick up the most. It's got more stuff on T-SQL than any of the half dozen other books I have, some of which are much bigger. What that means is that the writing style doesn't waste a lot of time on excess verbage. It's tight and concise. And that means not for beginners looking for a lot of this is a database kind of stuff.
But the volume that I need the most is the Guide to Architecture and Internals. I don't use it often, but when I do it is likely to be the only book available that tells me what I need to know at that moment. It's also something you might keep by your bedside. Unless I'm working on a specific problem, thirty seconds and I'm out.
The third book is on Stored Procedures (just in case you want to run faster), XML and HTML.
Conclusion, if you're serious about SQL Server, you can't do any better.
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
This book is a great referrence... but I feel funny judging it. It's like judging an encyclopedia... just another one of MS 'Inside SQL Server' series books. It's a good referrence to keep around, has useful info, and I prefer to read paper over a monitor anyday.... I won't be returning my copy anytime soon. I only gave it a 4 star rating because there is nothing that jumps out and makes this a "gotta have this" type book... but, by all means, it's worthwhile keeping around if you work with SQL 2000 at all.
Product: Book Textbook Binding
Title: MCSE Training Guide: SQL Server 6.5 Administration (Covers Exam #70-026)
Publisher: New Riders Pub
Authors: Brad McGehee, Chris Miller, Wayne Smith, Deanna Townsend, Stephen Wynkoop
Rating: 4/5
Title: MCSE Training Guide: SQL Server 6.5 Administration (Covers Exam #70-026)
Publisher: New Riders Pub
Authors: Brad McGehee, Chris Miller, Wayne Smith, Deanna Townsend, Stephen Wynkoop
Rating: 4/5
This book provides good coverage in its examples and test-questions from the CD and the book. Like most New Riders books, the editing could be improved. Overall, it does prepare you for the exam. This book also provides an excellent (and necessary !!) companion to the SQL Implementation book also published by New Riders.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Creating Your Web Site with PHP
Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
Authors: Dmitriy Koterov
Rating: 4/5
Title: Creating Your Web Site with PHP
Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
Authors: Dmitriy Koterov
Rating: 4/5
First thing, I am new to PHP. Have read (some briefly) around 5 PHP books for the past weeks. Good things about this book are 1) the author used a light-toned approach like talking to the reader; 2) the author is apparently very familiar with PHP and web technologies and gave background/related info (e.g. CGI/Apache) plus relatively comprehensive handling of PHP. Code examples for large apps were not found. Code softcopy seemed unavailable either as download or CD. Devoted almost a good chapter on template management, which I personally found an overkill, especially one can use Smarty now. PHP 3 and 4 are covered (fully?). Unlike 'PHP and Mysql for Dynamic Web Sites' (Larry Ullman), OOP was covered here. To conclude, a good enough book but 1) would be nice to have a new edition, 2)a little on the pricey side for what it offers. Consider O'Reilly's (comprehensive treatment but not for the faint of heart, makes good reference or textbook.) and Ullman's (easy to take and very good pointers to related material and web sites, but not as theoretically-solid) first. Would give 5-star to O'Reilly (for the right reader) and 4 and a half to Ullman (for the lack of OOP, although not a huge deal as OOP covered in the PHP online manual from php.net).
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP for the World Wide Web : Visual QuickStart Guide (2nd Edition) (Visual Quickstart Guides)
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP for the World Wide Web : Visual QuickStart Guide (2nd Edition) (Visual Quickstart Guides)
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 5/5
This book is absolutely perfect for beginners. If Like me you have no experience of programming, but would like to learn, buy this book, you'll be a programmer within two days!.
