IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 5/5
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 5/5
Oh wait...maybe it was just me. This is a great book for anyone wanting to learn PHP, or who doesnt feel like scrolling through that boring online manual. The included CD with Apache and Xitami (and examples) is very nice.
This is the kind of book that makes you want to buy more books, and then put them on your shelf and tell people you read all of them! I was so inspired that I took the time to teach my pet monkey, Mojo, to speak rastafarian!
GREAT JOB, LEON!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Database Design, Study Guide (Exam 70-29)
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies Rating: 2/5
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Database Design, Study Guide (Exam 70-29)
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies Rating: 2/5
This book is a waste of paper! It is full of errors. The examples are basic and when they are not full of errors do not illustrate or reinforce the points in the book. It does not follow a logical flow when discussing the concepts. I must agree that this one was rushed to press! It did nothing to prepare me for the exam! Nor did it give me any new information on the product. Save your $$$ and put it toward your exam (since you'll likely take it twice!)
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Programming Informix SQL/4Gl: A Step-By-Step Approach
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Authors: Cathy Kipp
Rating: 5/5
Title: Programming Informix SQL/4Gl: A Step-By-Step Approach
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Authors: Cathy Kipp
Rating: 5/5
This book is an excellent resource for a novice user of Informix. I give this one 2 thumbs up. Even my expert coworker peeks into it once in a great while. My work place has the Informix books offered by the vendor which can be highly wordy and, for me, unreadable. Also, the book by Paul Mahler, "An Informix 4GL Tutorial" is pure crap. Or maybe the title should have been, "Mahler's Only Way To Do Informix--An Unapproachable approach".I have used both the first and 2nd editions written by Cathy Kipp. The first edition used a smaller font, was easy to read and was more compact and, after using it as a beginner Informix programmer, I grew attached to it. When I started using the 2nd edition, it took me a while to get used to the larger font or the more spread out documentation. In other words, a command could be covered in a single page on the first edition making it easy to read, but it took 2 pages to cover the same command in the 2nd edition. However, the 2nd edition had more substance over all.Warning to the buyer! The books page numbers in the index and the actual pages those references are located can be a couple pages off. AFter the index was written, a few more lines were added throughout the book. This screws with your ability to find an indexed item in the book. For example, the index says: Isolation Levels p.446 but the actual page is p.448,9. Although, the plus side is the index is very thorough and make finding needed commands easily (within a page or 2).Drawback #2, as with most large paperbacks that are used on a daily basis, the book will start falling apart--pages unglueing out of the binder after a few months to a year.But again, it has definitely been an excellent resource. I almost would give this one 4 stars except, compared to the couple other resources I have seen, this one beats all the rest. Even if it has its couple of flaws.If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to respond.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ben Forta
Rating: 5/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ben Forta
Rating: 5/5
This is a no nonsense book. It will begin to teach you about the fundamentals of usage of SQL and how to put it to use immediately. This is particularly good when you're beginning web programming such as ASP, ColdFusion, PHP, etc., and you need to start learning SQL pronto to insert in your scripts. It skips a lot of SQL and database theory and fundamentals, but it gets you going quickly on the practical side. This book is really useful. I recommend it to anyone.
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
I don't know how the other reviewers got started with the book, if you must download anything from the authors website; I wasn't able to do that. I must have sent a few hundred emails to the author, and the web master - not a single response. Anyone awake? I wouldn't touch any of these books, if it requires me to download anything from their website, nor can you get a hold of anyone - very disappointed in deed.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: McSe Readiness Review Exam 70-029: Designing and Implementing Databases With Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (Mcse Readiness Review)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: Robert Sheldon
Rating: 3/5
Title: McSe Readiness Review Exam 70-029: Designing and Implementing Databases With Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (Mcse Readiness Review)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: Robert Sheldon
Rating: 3/5
I used this practice exam and Transcenders and passed the 70-029 exam on the first try. Transcenders are far more like the actual exam. If you can purchase only one practice exam, I suggest Transcenders, but if you got another $30 to invest, hey this 'second' practice exam is worth it.The testing software included with this book could be greatly improved by providing a way to save and print test session question/answer as Transcender does. That way, you can print out your incorrects, grab a cup of whatever, sit down at your PC with pencil and hi-liter, and go over what you got wrong. Currently, you must write down by hand the question numbers you get incorrect and refer back to the book :-(All above is ditto for Readiness Review 70-028
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 High Availability
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Allan Hirt, Cathan Cook, Kimberley Tripp, Microsoft Corp, Microsoft Corporation, Frank McBath
Rating: 2/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 High Availability
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Allan Hirt, Cathan Cook, Kimberley Tripp, Microsoft Corp, Microsoft Corporation, Frank McBath
Rating: 2/5
I got this one to help me with setting up a HA replication arch. To be nice about it the repl info in the book is anemic. Next to nothing about it. I'm not sure how I will use the book and Im pretty disappointed iwth it.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Weekend Crash Course
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Alex Kriegel
Rating: 5/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Weekend Crash Course
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Alex Kriegel
Rating: 5/5
This book is super easy and super informative. It was a pleasure reading it.
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: 4/5
Title: The Practical SQL Handbook: Using Structured Query Language (3rd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Judith S. Bowman, Sandra L. Emerson, Marcy Darnovsky
Rating: 4/5
I get asked by "newbies" for recommendations from time to time and this is the book I recommend most. Like a good childs toy, you won't outgrow it for awhile. It also brings you along at a very even pace so you don't feel like you are jumping over hugh gaps from one chapter to the next. The book also builds confidence because it makes SQL appear simple, which it is in its vanilla flavors. I would also like to recommend Martin Gruber's book on Understanding SQL, as this will provide a very smooth transition to more advanced SQL and explains the syntax a little more rigorously which becomes important as you progress. At some point you will discover that your vendor has added a fair amount of additional capability to their tool and you will need to transition to vendor-specific syntax/books/thinking... sigh.. so much for standards. This book and Gruber's will take you to that point. Good luck and don't be afraid to dink around a little, it's a good learning device. SQL will be around a long time, this is a great resume' builder. Go for it!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCSE SQL 7 Database Design and Administration Practice Tests Exam Cram (Exam: 70-028, 70-079)
Publisher:
Authors: Geoffrey Alexander, Joseph, Jr. Alexander
Rating: 1/5
Title: MCSE SQL 7 Database Design and Administration Practice Tests Exam Cram (Exam: 70-028, 70-079)
Publisher:
Authors: Geoffrey Alexander, Joseph, Jr. Alexander
Rating: 1/5
This was my first book in the Exam Cram series, and I'm truly stunned over the absolute rubbish this book contains.Luckily someone else has reviewed and posted most of the stuff that is highly questionable in this title, so I can soon throw it away and get on with my life... It's packed with syntactical errors, wrong answers, typos, ambigous and subjective scenarios that doesn't rely on facts and blatant statements that are just not true...'There is no such thing as a unique clustered index'..???I almost fell out of my chair reading that explanation in one of the answers...The authors also apparently have no knowledge of SQL Server's security model, as they fail to recognize that one of their 'correct' answers regarding the usage of a view, would not work because of a broken ownership chain..and on and on and on... I can't reccomend this title to *anyone* - it's so bad that if I could I'd be tempted to sue for mental damage...
