IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 5/5
I found this book to be very well put together. It starts out with a crash course that quickly moves you along the syntax of the language and opens your eyes to possible applications of the language at the same time. As the book progresses, what you learn becomes much more applicable to something you may want to develop. The book assumes, as it should if your picking up a book on PHP, that you are already familiar with HTML and have some programming background. This book doesn't try to go through each PHP function and tell you what it is and it's prototype. Nor is it a first programming book that teaches you how to program with PHP as your first language. It doesn't, however, require you to know much about a xnix, Win32 or HTTP server. It does teaches you much of Ph P's functionality through a some well written applications that are very practical and probably end up using. As far as MySQL goes, it teaches you what you need to know in order to use it with PHP. It doesn't teach database design, ER Diagramming or everything about SQL queries. It covers the basics and then some of MySQL and basic queries in a few chapters. I found the examples to be very well explained. Each bit of code is gone through throughly. It takes you practically line by line of what is going on and what everything is used for. The hardest thing I had to do with this book is install PHP, MySQL and Apache. After that everything is good to go and you will be flying through the material.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DBA Survival Guide, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Mark Spenik, Orryn Sledge
Rating: 4/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DBA Survival Guide, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Mark Spenik, Orryn Sledge
Rating: 4/5
Excellent first book for new SQL Server DBA's
This is a very nice book for new SQL Server DBA's or those who are moving up from a DRDBMS to Microsoft's server side solution.
It is easy to read, and I never once got the impression that the authors were more interested in trying to impress me with their own knowledge of the product than trying to convey their knowledge to me.
The book goes into every facet of SQL Server, and the hints and tips proved to be very valuable. While I did not find the tools on the included CD Rom to be very valuable, after a thorough reading through of this book I had the system set up, and a large production database in working order and backed up.
This book helps to take a lot of the fear away from what can be a very complicated program to use, and is worth every penny I paid for it
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Brian Larson
Rating: 3/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Brian Larson
Rating: 3/5
I browsed through this at a bookstore recently, and saw that many pages had lists like:
Click on File->Open
Choose this option
Choose that option
Press this button
Sigh, I don't like it when a book states what should be obvious.
This book is too low-level for my needs. Granted, I'm looking for a book that assumes that I know .NET and SQL Server already, so this may be appropriate for someone else. I just wanted to get a book that would give a good overview of the architecture, and then let me start using it ASAP. This is not quite it.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Administration Study Guide (Book/CD-ROM Set)
Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Syngress
Rating: 3/5
Title: MCDBA SQL Server 7 Administration Study Guide (Book/CD-ROM Set)
Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: Syngress
Rating: 3/5
I used this book as my primary study tool to learn SQL 7 Administration, but I needed other materials for practice test questions. The same publisher has another book, SQL Server 7 Pactice Questions, which tracks the chapters in this book exactly. If you get both you will do fine. Note: passed with 820.
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 studied this book in detail. I passed the exam with 82%...
It gives good info, but I found several key errors.
Recommend looking at oracle docs and running examples in SQL Plus.A few questions on the test were not mentioned in the book (as far as I can tell), but overall it helped me pass.Also, reading the "Tips" is good, but some of the key points are burried in the text.I recommend it, but you need the corrections ... And augment with oracle server docs, especially on outer join topics.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Queries for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Michael J. Hernandez, John L. Viescas
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Queries for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Michael J. Hernandez, John L. Viescas
Rating: 5/5
I sat down with this book as I tried to bring myself up to speed on working with database design and operation. After reading the "companion" Database Design for Mere Mortals, I tackled SQL Queries for Mere Mortals. While some of the beginning was redundant, it popped me into buiding SQL queries with a ton of examples and hands on exercises. Slowly building your knowledge and allowing you to see how the pieces can stand alone or interlock in the syntax, you are given more and more specific examples to help understand the concept. Is it exhaustive? No. Is it a quick reference? Not really. What it is though is a good reference piece when I'm trying to remember how do write sytnax for a specific query, showing me a real life example, instead of a list of just possible uses. Many references simply give you the generic terms built into one example statement like "Outer Join Table1, Table2 on Field1 [Order by]...." Instead, this book shows you using databases you are introduced to so you see the syntax in action. Since I don't use SQL every day, it's nice to go here to jump start my brain after some time also. A great book for someone getting into database queries, or who works with them occasionally and needs a guide.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCSE SQL 2000 Administration Exam Cram (Exam: 70-228)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Kalani Kirk Hausman
Rating: 3/5
Title: MCSE SQL 2000 Administration Exam Cram (Exam: 70-228)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Kalani Kirk Hausman
Rating: 3/5
For future reference - short and sweet!I'll pay more for a short book that covers the important stuff for the exam itself than for an exhaustive repetition of all of the exam criteria on the MCDBA web site. I don't really care what MIGHT be on the exam according to Microsoft. I just want to know what IS on the exam.This is an EXAM CRAM not a coverage of all knowledge domains for the exam. If I wanted a full source book for reference, I'd buy the Black Book or something like it.Next time - shorter is better!!!The end of book self test was the best thing about this book. At least that covered only similar items to what I saw on the test. I could probably have skipped the rest of the book and passed the test just with that. Maybe I should rip out the CramSheet and the self test next time - that would be more of a CRAM.This is one I won't read again. I read it, I passed the exam, file-13, enough said.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedure Programming
Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Authors: Dejan Sunderic, Tom Woodhead
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedure Programming
Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Authors: Dejan Sunderic, Tom Woodhead
Rating: 5/5
May be it is not the book for a person seeing database for the first time. But this is one book close to my heart. Authors do not talk about basic database queries or SQL Server architecture. But, if you're a serious TSQL programmer or serious Web developer and looking for the finer points - this book is an absolute must !
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Php Fast & Easy Web Development (Fast & Easy Web Development)
Publisher: Premier Press
Authors: Julie C. Meloni
Rating: 4/5
Title: Php Fast & Easy Web Development (Fast & Easy Web Development)
Publisher: Premier Press
Authors: Julie C. Meloni
Rating: 4/5
This book lives up to its title. Fast & Easy - It is a good place to start, and is quickly digested. I have rated this book at 4 for beginners, but would not recommend for more experienced programmers.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP 4: A Beginner's Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: William McCarty
Rating: 2/5
Title: PHP 4: A Beginner's Guide
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: William McCarty
Rating: 2/5
Don't waste your moneyI bought this book after reading the reviews here and my experience with one of their other books (A Beginners Guide Flash MX, this was a very good book). I have had nothing but a headache trying to get the code to work from chapter 4 and 5. I've given up and don't recommend this book to anybody until the code is debugged. I feel I shouldn't have to go to PHP sites to get help in debugging code. Too bad from the reviews it looked promising but alas buy another book on introductory PHP.
