IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCSE Administering SQL Server 7 Exam Prep (Exam: 70-028)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Brian Talbert
Rating: 5/5
Title: MCSE Administering SQL Server 7 Exam Prep (Exam: 70-028)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Brian Talbert
Rating: 5/5
I thanked god for this book! I took the SQL Admin 5 day Microsoft training course. It was no help at all. I purchased the SQL Exam Cram book, but very little help. This was my last exam to pass the MCSE course and I thought I had made a big mistake in taking this elective until I found Administering SQL Server 7 by Exam Prep. I am now an MCSE. Thank you Brian Talbert.
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
Overall, this book is an excellent guide in preparation for the SQL 6.5 Administration exam. The content is well written, thorough, and contains many great exercises and study questions. The book has 6 authors and the inconsitency amongst them does show from time to time. The overall flow is most preserved though. The chapter on replication could be more thorough, or at least more clearly written. Overall, however, this is an excellent resource and definately a good value for the discounted price offered by Amazon.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: William R. Vaughn
Rating: 4/5
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: William R. Vaughn
Rating: 4/5
This book really surprised me, it's great. The author it really helped me to understand the various microsoft database aproaches and how to gain benefit or avoid the pitfalls of each.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCSE SQL Server 2000 Administration for Dummies (with CD-ROM, covers test #70-228)
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Rozanne Whalen, Dan Whalen
Rating: 3/5
Title: MCSE SQL Server 2000 Administration for Dummies (with CD-ROM, covers test #70-228)
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Rozanne Whalen, Dan Whalen
Rating: 3/5
I read this book through once. I didn't read it altogether as I had long stints out of town for work. I also didn't do many of the excercies. I ended up almost passing the exam by doing nothing more. I missed by two questions I think. (My exam actually had scores.)I'm sure I could have passed if I did even a little more or reread the book through within a reasonable time period instead of the 4 months or so I stretched it out over.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Google: The Missing Manual
Publisher: O'Reilly Rating: 4/5
Title: Google: The Missing Manual
Publisher: O'Reilly Rating: 4/5
You use Google, don't you? With the plethora of print spilled about it, can anything useful be added? Well, Milstein and Dornfest have. They show many options that most users are simply unaware of. Nifty capabilities that deserve wider knowledge. Perhaps the best is that you can search for an essentially arbitrary alphanumeric string. How is this useful? The string may be an ISBN. The results will often show the book listed under major booksellers like BookFinder, Booksmatter, eCampus and Amazon. Or the string might be a tracking number issued by USPS, DHL, Fedex or UPS. Or course, you could go to those websites and type it there. But if you are a heavy Google user, it may be quicker to start in it. Other useful cases are where that string is a US Patent Number or a Universal Product Code or a Vehicle Id. But this book is independent of, and not endorsed by, Google. The authors demonstrate this by describing contexts where Google might not be suitable, and other search engines might be more fruitful. Like, if you want to see clustering of results, Google leaves you out of luck. Try Vivisimo instead. In this case, I don't know why Google doesn't offer this capability. Altavista had it in 1998. It surely can't be a technical limitation of Google.Such examples of when to look elsewhere are reassuring. The authors DO recommend Google. After all, that is what this book is all about. But they are not bedazzled, and readily share with you its boundaries.A crucial minority of you (Web administrators) may be intensely attracted to the discussion at the end of the book. AnSense and Adwords. These are ways to put ads on your website and (hopefully) derive revenue, and how to advertise on Google, respectively. For some merchants, the latter has lead to heavy sales to a global audience.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL for Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Allen G. Taylor
Rating: 4/5
Title: SQL for Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Allen G. Taylor
Rating: 4/5
Buying any book targeted for 'dummies' sets the record straight in terms of my knowledge of SQL. I'm a South African computer science student and bought SQL for Dummies to supplement material prescribed by the university. Firstly, the book is set out in an easy to understand manner starting with the section called Contents at a Glance and followed by an extensive Table of Contents. The text uses icons for tips, things to remember, warnings, technical stuff, etc. which reinforces key concepts. Mr Taylor conveys his thoughts on a serious subject, particularly for first timers, in a humourous manner making the subject even more accessible. The contents of the book is set out in clear and concise way, with key topics highlighted. The book is extensive in its covering of the subject, not only directed at building and extracting information from a database, but also giving information on security issues and using SQL with the internet.I found the book of particular use and can recommend it to any newcomers to SQL.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL In A Nutshell, 2nd Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Kevin Kline, Daniel Kline, Brand Hunt
Rating: 4/5
Title: SQL In A Nutshell, 2nd Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Kevin Kline, Daniel Kline, Brand Hunt
Rating: 4/5
SQL Server 2000, MySQL, Oracle 8i, and PostgreSQL 7.0 implementations of the SQL-99 standard are covered in this desktop reference to SQL syntax. The contents include a short history, concepts, statements (the bulk of the book) and functions, as well as an appendix with a helpful list of SQL and vendor-specific keywords.This book is meant, as its subtitle states, as a "desktop quick reference", and indeed, its strengths are the ease of reference and the handy comparison among the SQL-99 and vendor implementations. There are weaknesses to the book, such as when researching a particular statement, the description and statement can appear quite cryptic at times. But in spite of its uneven quality, and because of the fact of a multi-database world, this reference is a serviceable addition to anyone's library.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCSE Administering SQL Server 7 Exam Cram (Exam: 70-028)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Jeffrey Garbus, David Pascuzzi, Alvin Chang
Rating: 3/5
Title: MCSE Administering SQL Server 7 Exam Cram (Exam: 70-028)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Jeffrey Garbus, David Pascuzzi, Alvin Chang
Rating: 3/5
This book is a bad review for SQL Server 7.0. This book is about 99% syntax which is not what SQL Server 7.0 is totally about. I'm not sure if Jeffrey Garbus has ever really seen SQL Server 7.0. either. If he had he would see that it is heavily designed with the GUI interface in mind. This book is not the book to study for the exam. I ordered it from the Coriolis Group store. I hope I can get my money back. The Sybex book SQL Server7 Administration study guide is a much better (and longer) choice. They (Sybex) covers both sides of the exam (syntax and GUI) very well.
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: 3/5
Title: PHP for the World Wide Web : Visual QuickStart Guide (2nd Edition) (Visual Quickstart Guides)
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 3/5
just a quick addition to my review. i noticed that the badly needed 2nd edition i said was needed is indeed coming out in january of 2004. do yourself a favor and wait for it if you can.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: William R. Vaughn
Rating: 1/5
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: William R. Vaughn
Rating: 1/5
I've been using VB for years, ASP since 1.0, and SQL 7.0 since the beta. I bought this book hoping to learn some new stuff. By the first 4 chapters I've found find a lot of useless and offputting MS polemics, and a hodgepodge of information covering versions of Jet up to Access 9.0 (Office 2000?) and SQL 7.0. Makes fun of web applications because of thin-client metaphor - isn't there eenough room for all types of systems in our increasingly complex world today? This book needs to get a lot more focused. I can't believe the amount of time dedicated to even mentioning 16-bit platforms. If you need info on developing for legacy systems - use the legacy books already on your bookshelf! I recommend WROX's ADO 2.0 Programmer's reference for one - and it's smaller and cheaper. I'm not sure I'll even finish reading this one, and it definitely won't find its way into my most used books.
