IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book
Title: PHP and MySQL For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Publisher:
Authors: Janet Valade
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP and MySQL For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Publisher:
Authors: Janet Valade
Rating: 5/5
This book was perfect for me. I thought the organization was great. I started at the beginning and worked through to the end. The information was there when I needed it. I didn't need to search around for anything and didn't feel that any information was missing. Everything worked just as the book said it would. I downloaded the programs, so I didn't even have to deal with my own typos.
This book is an introduction to PHP and MySQL for people who don't know anything about programming or databases. It's great for beginners. It might be a little too simple for people who already know how to program and use databases. The writing is easy to understand with lots of examples. In addition, there are two running examples that are used throughout the book, an online catalog and a user login. The last two chapters put everything together for the two examples.
I am talking about the second edition of this book. I didn't find ANY mistakes in this book, maybe because it's the second edition. Maybe the first edition had some mistakes. Amazon doesn't even sell the first edition any more.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCSA/MCSE/MCDBA Self-Paced Training Kit: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 System Administration, 70-228, Second Edition
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Corporation
Rating: 1/5
Title: MCSA/MCSE/MCDBA Self-Paced Training Kit: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 System Administration, 70-228, Second Edition
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Corporation
Rating: 1/5
I bought this book a little while ago in hopes of using it to help me pass the 70-228 exam. Because of the title of the book and the many different descriptions that it used of itself (something like, "Your guide to getting the real world knowledge you need to pass the 70-228"), I studied it, alone, quite vigorously.
I was making excellent progress through the book and was nailing all of the review questions at the end of each section, so I made my appointment to take the exam. The day before the exam I started using the practice tests that came on the CD. To my surprise, there were quite a few questions on the practice tests that I could not find ANY answers for in the book. This is when I discovered the section in the book that recommends that you read approximately 5-10 other books before taking the exam.
By this time it was too late to cancel my test appointment, so I went and took it in hopes that the practice tests were not representative of how the exam truly is. As it turns out, the practice tests WEREN'T representative of the real exam - the real exam was much worse. On the practice tests, probably half of the questions came from material in the book. On the real exam - I kid you not - there was one question that had anything to do with the material in the book. I had to step out of the testing booth to verify with the proctor that they were giving me the correct exam. I got a 40% on the exam and I got lucky.
Is it my fault that I didn't read the pages that said that I should read other books before taking the exam? Yes, absolutely.
What my main gripe with this book is that there was almost no relevance to what was actually on the 70-228 exam! What is the point of this book? I could write a book titled "The Authoritative Guide to Passing the 70-228!!", talk about nothing but peanut butter sandwiches, but include a page of other books to read, and it would pretty much accomplish what this book did.
The bottom line is that there IS NO point to this book. If you're just looking to learn more about SQL Server 2000 and don't care about the exam, find another book - there have to be better ones than this out there. If you DO care about the exam, this isn't a foundational book, this isn't a supplemental book, this isn't a guide, this isn't anything but a time waster. DO NOT buy this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ben Forta
Rating: 4/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, Third Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ben Forta
Rating: 4/5
This book is a great introduction to SQL, and will give you a good foundation on which to continue to more complicated SQL. You may find the information in this book is all you'll ever need. It's strengths are the short, to-the-point chapters. They are easy to read and understand. The range of topics covered is also quite wide. This book got me up to speed very quickly with SQL, and is much easier to digest than the SQL chapters in my university database textbook. This book does confine itself to SQL and doesn't explain how to design a relational database.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle8i Features
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steven Feuerstein
Rating: 1/5
Title: Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Guide to Oracle8i Features
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steven Feuerstein
Rating: 1/5
If you're wondering about what's new in Oracle8i at the PL/SQL level and you don't want to skim through the Oracle doc's once more, this book offers a fine resum?.I like the book because it gave me that "I'm-up-to-date"-feeling again.No PL/Vision commercials in here.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 5/5
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 5/5
We been running apache since '97 when we blew out an NT server due to complex DNS issues it couldn't handle. Consulting fees have added up to a substantial amount since our conversion to apache on FreeBSD. This book has saved hundreds of dollars in consulting fees which are better spent on more advanced issues worthy of consultants;^)If asked to recommend a first book on apache, this would be it. I've said that I'd never run Microsoft anything software on a UNIX server, or UNIX on Microsoft... But, gee-whiz, I couldn't resist installing the NT port to my personal NT server <Grin>
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2000 Programming Step by Step
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Rebecca Riordan
Rating: 3/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2000 Programming Step by Step
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Rebecca Riordan
Rating: 3/5
This book is good for a complete beginner to SQL Server, but if you're familiar with SQL generally, or if you've used SQL Server 6.5 or 7.0, you'd do well to purchase a different book (I recommend Professional SQL 2000 by Wrox Press).This book *is* very clear, and it presents a great deal of screen shots. For some people that will be great. However, the step-by-step screen shots might be a bit too much for some folks (it steps through each dialog box for most tasks).While this book is extremely clear, it doesn't offer real world advice.For beginners -- four stars. For pros -- two stars.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional PHP Programming
Publisher:
Authors: Jesus Castagnetto, Sascha Schumann, Harish Rawat, Chris Scollo, Deepak T. Veliath
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional PHP Programming
Publisher:
Authors: Jesus Castagnetto, Sascha Schumann, Harish Rawat, Chris Scollo, Deepak T. Veliath
Rating: 5/5
This book was just what I was looking for to launch a new dynamic website I am building. Clear concise writing and good examples make this book an invaluable reference.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
This book is priceless. Within a week of getting it, it helped me solve two separate T-SQL problems that had been dogging me for years. The author is a genius. He seems to have superstar abilities in solving difficult technical problems as well as in explaining how he did it. Even finding those qualities in one person is rare, let alone getting them to write a book. I've only had the book for about a month, and already it's showing signs of wear. And I really like the epigraphs that start each chapter. They're thought-provoking and insightful. They help us keep things in perspective.My favorite chapters are: - T-SQL data type nuances - Cursors - Transactions - Stored Procedures & Triggers - T-SQL Performance Tuning - OLE Automation - Undocumented T-SQLThe chapter on performance and the one on Automation are particularly good. I can definitely recommend this book. It's the only one like it on the market.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server 2000 Black Book: A Resource for Real World Database Solutions and Techniques
Publisher: Paraglyph
Authors: Paul Whitehead, Patrick Dalton
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server 2000 Black Book: A Resource for Real World Database Solutions and Techniques
Publisher: Paraglyph
Authors: Paul Whitehead, Patrick Dalton
Rating: 5/5
I can't say that I read a technical book from cover but I've come pretty close with this one. In addition to the information that I can really use, ( and I mean everyday ) what impressed me most was the practical and meaningful tips about dealing with the day to day 'crises' a SQL server developer faces. The book is already well dog eared as it's a constant companion of mine at work, in the car, and at home. I highly recommend this book. It's the best on the subject I've seen. I've learned things about SQL Server I didn't even know existed.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 (Microsoft Programming Series)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: Ron Soukup
Rating: 5/5
Title: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 (Microsoft Programming Series)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr
Authors: Ron Soukup
Rating: 5/5
This book was awesome. It takes a very very deep and granular look at SQL server. I just got a job as a SQL DBA and I wanted to know everything there was about SQL server. For three months I read this book on the bus to and from work, and now, when an issue comes up at work, i am AMAZED by how much I know. He also really prepares you with the transition to SQL 7, hinting at possible new features as he goes along. If you had only read this book, you would know more about SQL 7 than you think!Only 2 negative comments: Very pro-microsoft and anti-competition. Oracle has GOT to do some things better than SQL Server, but you would never know that by reading this book. Also, this book is NOT A REFERENCE book. It is a story about SQL Server, and if you get to the end, you will be a kick-butt DBA.
