IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL: Visual QuickStart Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Chris Fehily
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL: Visual QuickStart Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Chris Fehily
Rating: 5/5
I am an entry-level C# developer that wanted to learn more about SQL. I knew the basics, but usually I would just use DataSets to do all of the work. I decided that I needed to delve a bit deeper into the SQL language. There are loads of books to choose from when it comes to SQL and I found this one to be a very good start. First, the price for this book is very low and don't think that means the quality is low. The material in this book is presented in a visual fashion which helped me immensely as I am a visual learner. You will learn everything from the basic SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE along with joins, creating dynamic tables, subqueries and a whole lot more. The author even points out differences in DBMSs SQL when they arise (such as you need to use # instead of ' with DateTimes in Microsoft Access)
The author clearly points out that even someone with absolutely no programming or database knowledge can use this book, but I think that if you have absolutely no programming or database knowledge the book might be slightly intimidating. He briefly shows how the relational model works (and even says you can just skip the chapter if you want) If you are new then you should learn how the relational model works before using a language that works with relational databases (makes sense, right?).
If you have absolutely no programming and/or database knowledge then I would probably pick up a good database book to start (I would recommend Database Design For Mere Mortals by Michael J. Hernandez) and then use a book such as this one for learning SQL. If you are a developer with minimal knowledge about SQL then this book is a great start.
Overall, I still give this book 5/5 because the information he presents is very valuble for such a tiny dent in your wallet.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache Server 2 Bible
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Mohammed J. Kabir
Rating: 5/5
Title: Apache Server 2 Bible
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Mohammed J. Kabir
Rating: 5/5
The book is not superb nor explains everything about Apache , but this book really concentrates on Apache. I've seen lots of books titled Apache Web Server but full of web tutorials, TCP/IP and even HTML reference. This book is not perfect but very satisfactory.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL: Visual QuickStart Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Chris Fehily
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL: Visual QuickStart Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Chris Fehily
Rating: 5/5
There are several "software-independent" SQL books available. I thumbed through a number before landing on this one. I believe I got real lucky. I'm a research analyst at a large medical center. I pull data from various sources using SQL front-ends and stuff data into MS Access for analysis or additional manipulation. I needed an SQL reference for both parts of my job, understanding what I was getting from the hospital systems and writing better SQL in Access or imbeddded SQL in VBA code. This book serves my needs because it is a thorough reference and also because it has plenty of Access examples and tips.I'm also impressed with the layout of the Visual QuickStart Guide. It is very easy to find the information you are after and the bullet points are generally right on target with the details important to the task at hand. I haven't had to read the entire book cover to cover to do some work, and that's the point. When the author does interject himself, his comments are insightful and meaningful. An example, "Although SELECT is powerful, it's not dangerous. You can't use it to add, change or delete data... The dangerous stuff starts in Chapter 9."A great technical reference in a crowded field.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Practical SQL Handbook: Using Structured Query Language (3rd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Judith S. Bowman, Sandra L. Emerson, Marcy Darnovsky
Rating: 5/5
Title: The Practical SQL Handbook: Using Structured Query Language (3rd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Judith S. Bowman, Sandra L. Emerson, Marcy Darnovsky
Rating: 5/5
Like most of the previous reviewers, I've found this book to be way out front in quality, information, readability and as the name says, practicality. In amazingly simple terms, it unveils the mystery of SQL and makes it almost homely. Examples are clear and appropriate, while the text is precise and to the point, with no wastage. This is a great little book that will provide you with all the ammunition needed for tackling SQL with confidence and cunning within a week. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Visual Basic Developer's Guide to E-Commerce with ASP and SQL Server
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Noel Jerke
Rating: 4/5
Title: Visual Basic Developer's Guide to E-Commerce with ASP and SQL Server
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Noel Jerke
Rating: 4/5
This book gives an in-depth overview of technologies used to create e-commerce web applications with Microsoft technologies. It is great as a reference of SQL and ASP procedures, which can be readily used. The code examples are comprehensive and complete. I wish however, that the presented examples would be more consistent. For instance, the database design contains special tables for Product Attributes, but the Shopping Basket table does allow only for Color and Size attribute. Another issue is, that every ASP page accesses SQL script to fill the session variables, which should be set only once. I think, that the second thought may be given to this book for the next release, and then it will deserve much higher ratings.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional SQL Server 7.0 Programming
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Rob Vieira
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional SQL Server 7.0 Programming
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Rob Vieira
Rating: 5/5
It is a wonderful book to keep as a reference. The author flows with your mind, answers the questions you are going to ask next, makes you feel at home , gives you a good feel,and acts as a perfect reference.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 1/5
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 1/5
I didn't like this book for a number of reasons. I guess, overall, I'd have to say I didn't feel it lived up to the fact that it's a Nutshell book.The first problem is that it jumps from topic to topic with scarcely a reason. The organization of this book is very difficult to follow. Also, the code samples are obviously targeted at releases of SQL prior to 7.0. Old-style outer joins are used throughout the book -- a real no-no these days. Worse yet, the book isn't written very well. The prose is as uneven as it is obtuse. I think this may be due to the fact that multiple people actually wrote it -- after all, people have different writing styles. I can't recommend this book. If you're looking for the ultimate guide to Microsoft Transact-SQL, don't get this book.
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 was really struggling with xml and sql server until I found this book. This book pulled it all together for me. It's worth the money for that alone. The xml intro chapter is the most to the point tutorial on xml I've found even in whole books on the subject.If you add to this the fact that stored procedure programming is drilled into as are several other relevant topics you have a book that every sql person should read.I also really enjoyed the essays at the end of the book. Very good stuff that I've read more than once. Not specifically related to sql server but still good reads.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Performance Tuning
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Peter Gulutzan, Trudy Pelzer
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Performance Tuning
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Peter Gulutzan, Trudy Pelzer
Rating: 5/5
This is one of the few SQL books that has practical examples and addresses DB2, Informix, SQL Server, and Oracle. It contains excellent facts on how SQL is processes, which one must understand to write top performing SQL. The authors accomplished just that with this excellent book. You'll get hard to find details on query optimizers, B+tree index structures and many myths you have had will be demystified...
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Ocp: Oracle8I Dba SQL and Pl/SQL Study Guide : Exam 1Z0-001 (OCP Study Guide)
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Chip Dawes, Biju Thomas
Rating: 4/5
Title: Ocp: Oracle8I Dba SQL and Pl/SQL Study Guide : Exam 1Z0-001 (OCP Study Guide)
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Chip Dawes, Biju Thomas
Rating: 4/5
Its a great book for the exam. However, it does not cover a few topics in detail which are a part of the exam. I ended up getting 49 on 57 and this book was my bible.I would recommend it purely from an exam perspective especially for a novice like me without any prior knowledge of Oracle. For in depth references I think the Oracle press books are great.
