IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Advanced PHP Programming
Publisher: Sams
Authors: George Schlossnagle
Rating: 5/5
Title: Advanced PHP Programming
Publisher: Sams
Authors: George Schlossnagle
Rating: 5/5
Caveat: I am only basing my review on the sample chapter on Performance Tuning, a draft copy of the chapter on Zend Engine Internals, and the table of contents. Also, I may be biased because I've met George and he's really hard not to like--I'll try harder next time.Go read the reviews of other PHP authors' blogs by doing a Feedster search of this book, you'll find that they highly recommend this book, sometimes over their own books!Looking at the chapter list, you can see the topics covered are not what you see in a typical PHP book. In fact, if you don't know PHP, this is definitely not the book to be learning out of. If you don't know how to program, this is not the book to be learning out of. But if you use PHP professionally and need to get that extra mile or scale your PHP to a large site, then this is definitely the book to be buying.There are simply no books, articles, or web references that provide a bird's eye view of the Zend Engine Internals. That is, until this book. The car analogy in this chapter is very apt for the potential reader of this book on a whole. If all you do is use PHP to get you from "point A to B" you certainly don't need this book. But if you are a PHP professional who is responsible for a high performance website, then you need to know the content of this book cold.The chapter on Performance Tuning has a lot of gems you can't find in any other PHP reference and is essential knowledge when you use PHP on large sites. According to Michael Radwin, George's APD (the tool referenced in the chapter), is used to performance tune parts of Yahoo. But George also gives a nod to competing projects mentioning their strengths and weaknesses. (You can see why it's hard not to like the guy, his pragmatism supersedes his ego in every page.)This neatly complements any other PHP book on the shelf (including any other "professional" PHP book). And I'll definitely have to give an updated review after I've read the other chapters.I'm sure it will pay for itself many times over. Believe me, I speak from experience to know that George speaks from experience (he was involved in a PHP-based company that drove a company I worked for out of business).(And to all of you who have received advanced copies... Grr!)
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP Fast & Easy Web Development, 2nd Edition
Publisher: Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade
Authors: Julie C. Meloni
Rating: 1/5
Title: PHP Fast & Easy Web Development, 2nd Edition
Publisher: Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade
Authors: Julie C. Meloni
Rating: 1/5
The first one-third of this book contains information which a beginner like me may quickly but too hastily find very grateful. But the feeling of being grateful will soon give way to a feeling of disappointment and anger as inaccurate code begin to show up one after another, which will make you waste countless hours. If you buy this book and have to go through the same horrible time of frustration as I have, you will agree that the authors have not tested the codes, which may sound quite incredible to you. I do not understand how this book has gotten that many positive feedbacks. I sent e-mails to the publishers to inquire about the codes in the book which did not function. But I haven't heard yet.
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 projects really helped me to get something tangible up and running very quickly. I already know C++, HTML and other web technologies so PHP was extremely easy to pick up. I was able to create a shopping cart within a week.
There are numerous useful examples in this book. If you ever wanted to put some dynamic content in your site, buy this book.
Some things I would have liked is a more extensive coverage of writing secure scripts. This is not a negative for this book since most books are written for a large audience and you rarely find one that doesn't waste someone's time with very basic subjects like setting up a webserver or how ecommerce works and etc.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Advanced Oracle PL/SQL Programming with Packages (Nutshell Handbook)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steven Feuerstein
Rating: 4/5
Title: Advanced Oracle PL/SQL Programming with Packages (Nutshell Handbook)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steven Feuerstein
Rating: 4/5
I am studying with this book Now I found that I kneed environment
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle SQL High-Performance Tuning (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Guy Harrison
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle SQL High-Performance Tuning (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Guy Harrison
Rating: 5/5
Except for some missing hints (pg. 57-59) and some mixed up hint syntax, I found the book accurate and very enlightening. I've now used it on two from-scratch VLDB projects. Almost every page has something I was able to use to refine SQL statements & PL/SQL server-side code. For example, pg. 206, the section on MAX & MIN statements was the key to my latest project being able to process 20X the number of records we currently do. The section on learning to read tkprof output was helpful. The bibliography was also great (but is probably outdated now). Worth every penny!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server The Complete Reference
Publisher: Osborne Publishing
Authors: Gayle Coffman
Rating: 2/5
Title: SQL Server The Complete Reference
Publisher: Osborne Publishing
Authors: Gayle Coffman
Rating: 2/5
As a experienced mainframe database programmer making a shift to the client server environment, I found it hard to come to terms with the material. My personal opinion is that Coffman has a problem getting the subject matter across to all but the most seasoned SQL Server professional. Most of what is in the text may be found within the books on line facility.I have resorted to the book by Otey and Conte 'SQL Server 7 Developer's Guide' which I found far superior, covering SQL Server 7 from the Development and Maintenance points of view, and easy to understand. .....Steve Simon
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Robert Vieira
Rating: 4/5
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Robert Vieira
Rating: 4/5
I really enjoyed this book, but I feel that it should have been titled "Professional SQL Server 2000 DBA". This is not a book on Transact SQL programming, though there is some discussion of T-SQL in there. For T-SQL, a better reference would be Ken Henderson's "Guru" book.Still, I felt that the book made me a better DBA, and that's important too. This book is a good introduction to lots of things, like DTS, that will in turn lead you to reading other, more advanced books. So if you are new to SQL Server, this is a good place to start.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Administration Study Guide (Book/CD-ROM Set)
Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Syngress
Rating: 1/5
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Administration Study Guide (Book/CD-ROM Set)
Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Syngress
Rating: 1/5
This book has lots of errors. It will not help you pass the exam; it may only serve to confuse you. Especially after communicating with the publisher, I've vowed to never buy another Syngress book again. Once I bought the Sybex Study Guide, I really learned my stuff and was able to pass this very difficult exam. Stick with Sybex--you'll really learn from them!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Interactive Workbook (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Benjamin Rosenzweig, Elena Silvestrova
Rating: 1/5
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Interactive Workbook (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Benjamin Rosenzweig, Elena Silvestrova
Rating: 1/5
With over twenty years in large scale IT development using Java/C++/C/Assembly languages on Unix/Windows 2000/NT platforms, but a neophyte with PL/SQL, I needed a PL/SQL package that would assume no background knowledge in PL/SQL, get me up to speed fast, and at the same time be comprehensive. In other words, I wanted everything. This package no only satisfied this need, but opened up new avenues of thought concerning approaches to database programming. The book is simply matchless (it should get 6 stars--an extra star for the terrific exercises that incorporate hidden pearls of IT wisdom), and yes I have perused others on the market. Ms. Silvestrova demonstrates that she is a consummate professional. The flow of the book, depth of the hands-on exercises, and scope of material is an inimitable combination. This so far may sound over-glowing, but a workman is worthy of her hire. I would recommend this package to any introductory or middle level PL/SQL student. If you desire to be a competent PL/SQL professional, look no further. If you desire to have a guide that provides you with a solid answer to specific types of PL/SQL problems, look no further. However, if you seek a slick product that spoon feeds you programming palaver (under the guise of teaching), fly you fool: you have many under-performing options available.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server Training: Hands-On, Self-Paced Training for Microsoft SQL Server Version 6.5
Publisher: Microsoft Pr Rating: 4/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server Training: Hands-On, Self-Paced Training for Microsoft SQL Server Version 6.5
Publisher: Microsoft Pr Rating: 4/5
I had never touched SQL Server before looking at these books and I barely even new what it was. But this training got me up to a competent level where I can administer the server and write SQL code. It's not super detailed so I'm not sure if it would suit the advanced user who's trying to be an expert. It is very good for the beginner to intermediate user.
