IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP Developer's Cookbook (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Sterling Hughes, Andrei Zmievski
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP Developer's Cookbook (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Sterling Hughes, Andrei Zmievski
Rating: 5/5
I'm not the type of programmer that likes to copy & paste other people's code in my applications, however, every so often I run into problems that I'm not quite sure of the proper way to solve; this book has become invaluable in these cases, whether it is performing HTTP Post requests (hint, use cURL), or parsing data with regular expressions, the book provides a handy reference for all the common and not so common tasks that you might encounter. One of the things that I really appreciate about the book is that it is written by two PHP core developers, and they often show their knowledge, telling you what goes on behind the scene, offering a variety of different solutions, and then offering the best solution. I've found this information helpful in solving future problems, as I learned what was going on under the hood, therefore, I knew how to optimize the solution.An excellent book, if you want solutions to problems that you'll constantly encounter, its meant to be a reference on the programmer's bookshelf, not a way to learn PHP (although it definitely has _improved_ my PHP knowledge), .......
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: OCP Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Jason Couchman
Rating: 2/5
Title: OCP Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Jason Couchman
Rating: 2/5
This book is a great read despite the mistakes and typos littered about its pages. Its not dry or overdone like many prep books - it's just right. In addition, it's a super value considering it's hardcover and official. My book included a CD with excellent practice test software which helped me drill in some of the tough topics.This book is also a great place to start if you know nothing about the workings of an Oracle database. Some other cram type books leave you to figure out many of the nuts and bolts on your own so you can't put together the whole picture. This book doesn't do that. It takes you through gently but briskly giving you a solid ground to work from.After reading it, I passed on my first try with the help of an 8i Cram book because there were about 4 or 5 questions on the test that the book did not cover. This leads to my only real dissappointment. The fact is that it the book is just not detailed enough in just a couple areas.In the end, I give it 5 stars. I have read 5 certification prep books (2 Oracle) in the past few months and this is the best and my absolute favorite because of its easy to read content and its hard to beat value. Happy studying.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2000 Programming Step by Step
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Rebecca Riordan
Rating: 4/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2000 Programming Step by Step
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Rebecca Riordan
Rating: 4/5
I have had a lot of experience with Access but none with SQL server. This book told me everything I needed to get up and running quickly with SQL server. The presentation is very clear and readable. I also learned me a few new things about relational databases. Thanks Rebecca.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle Web Application Programming for PL/SQL Developers
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Susan Boardman, Melanie Caffrey, Solomon Morse, Benjamin Rosenzweig
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle Web Application Programming for PL/SQL Developers
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Susan Boardman, Melanie Caffrey, Solomon Morse, Benjamin Rosenzweig
Rating: 5/5
I found this book very helpful as it explains the basics in a very clear, easy to understand language and has lots of examples. It's a high quality interactive manual: first the concepts are described, then I was presented with exercises, which is very good as most of us learn through practice, experince. The answers and clarifications which are given after the exercises unit helped me monitor my understanding and in the end I had the complete application and a great feeling of achievement.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days (4th Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ron Plew, Ryan Stephens
Rating: 1/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days (4th Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ron Plew, Ryan Stephens
Rating: 1/5
One would expect that a text that teaches you SQL would have at the very least, links to the SQL that creates and populates the tables you are going to learn against.The inclusion of the appendix with all those Create and Insert statements in the back is like a slap in the face. You can learn SQL in 21 Days, but you have to create and populate the tables first. If you aren't using Oracle, then we are sorry that not all of these statements will work.I cannot recommend a book that doesn't even acknowledge it's audience is actually learning SQL and doesn't care to type out 15 pages of SQL statements before they can really start Day 1.Go for "Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes" it costs less and has the scripts available for download.
Product: Book Unknown Binding
Title: Sybase SQL Server 11 Unleashed
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ray Rankins, Jeff Garbus, David Solomon, Bennett W. McEwan
Rating: 5/5
Title: Sybase SQL Server 11 Unleashed
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ray Rankins, Jeff Garbus, David Solomon, Bennett W. McEwan
Rating: 5/5
This book is a must have for anyone using or planning to use Sybase SQL Server. I find myself constantly grabbing for this book whenever I have a Sybase question that needs to be answered. My copy has become frayed and tattered with use.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server 2000 Developer's Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Michael Otey, Paul Conte
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server 2000 Developer's Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Michael Otey, Paul Conte
Rating: 5/5
You guys again did a great job on this book! I owned your previous version for SQL Server 7 and thought it was great and wrote a great review. Subsequently when the next version came out, I received an email from either Paul Conte or Michael Conte asking me if I wanted a complementary copy of the new book. Of course I said yes (sorry Amazon, I didn't buy the 2000 version from you) and it arived ASAP. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to use SQL Server 2K until about a week ago and have found the book invaluable since then. It is not a book for beginners, however, it is written in a straight forward manor and is enjoyable to read (how many technical books can you say are enjoyable to read?) and gives me the info I need to develop apps. utilizing SQL Server. Thanks again for a great, well written technical book!!!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 2/5
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 2/5
I'm an beginning PHP user. From the title, I expected a how to book that would include tutorials on how to "build dynamic web sites." Surprise! It's just a fat manual that lists functions, etc., but is not explanatory about how to use them within the context of a script. This may be a great reference for a PHP programmer, but it won't teach you how to use the language.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle PL/SQL 101
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Christopher Allen
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle PL/SQL 101
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Christopher Allen
Rating: 5/5
I am taking a SQL course in college in order to be able to start
a new career when I leave my present career. I knew absolutely
nothing about SQL when I started the class. My instructor referred me to this book "PLSQL 101" to use besides my classbook.
This book explains things much better than the book supplied by
Oracle! It's very easy to read and comprehend. Very nice. With this book I have learned and absorbed a lot of information to
help me along to a new career. Without this book as a sidekick to my classbook, I probably would have stopped.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: OCP Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Jason Couchman
Rating: 1/5
Title: OCP Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL Exam Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Jason Couchman
Rating: 1/5
I agree with most people on the abundance of errors in the book. However, I see that most people's complaints are geared toward expecting to pass the exam solely on the book alone. No matter which Oracle book you buy, if you plan on passing the SQL exam without practicing heavily you will be in for a shock. The Oracle University books put out by Oracle themselves are also a great resource, but they alone won't make you pass either. This book provides good reference for new features in 9i, and certainly provides enough to help you get a 40/57 (70%). I learned 8i originally and can tell you that the exam does not contain that many questions on strictly 9i format, because 8 and 9i are similar in many regards. And as for comments that the review questions are very simple, obviously those people have not looked at the 3 Practice exams in the back of the book, because there are some more difficult questions in there. Overall I would say this is very helpful to pass along with PRACTICING SQL. Syntax alone won't help you pass the test because sometimes Oracle will give you results that defy common logic.
