IT programming books related reviews
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
This book has helped me to finally understand how to get information back out of my databases. The Comp. Sci. program I'm in teaches how to build a relational database, but then just glosses over SQL Queries. I now have a much better understanding of subqueries, joins, and SQL in general. After finishing this book, I feel I can retrieve any information I need to get with little trouble.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP Advanced for the World Wide Web Visual QuickPro Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 2/5
Title: PHP Advanced for the World Wide Web Visual QuickPro Guide
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman
Rating: 2/5
A bunch of people are out there writing tons of PHP books, because it is such a "hot" web language. Do a quick Amazon search and you'll find lots of "advanced" adjectives in titles. This text is not advanced (no detailed session management, minimal security descrition). The description of classes (objects) is okay, but could use a more in-depth discussion of object data access, function overloading, etc.. (realizing PHP's objects are not "real" objects -- yet). At a higher level, I find the Visual Quickpro format hard to read. They use a two-column newspaper style of typesetting that results in short sentances that I find hard to read. Everything is kind of "cramped-up". Also, some of the code examples show poor editing. For example; pgs 196 and 197 show two full pages of HTML OPTION values for months, days of month, years, etc.. Give me a break!, I don't need to see all this stupid HTML if I am writing advanced PHP!! Also related to editing, some of the web-page examples are half-page size to fit the two-column typesetting.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: McSe Readiness Review Exam 70-028: Administering Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (Mcse Readiness Review)
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Jill Spealman
Rating: 4/5
Title: McSe Readiness Review Exam 70-028: Administering Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (Mcse Readiness Review)
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Jill Spealman
Rating: 4/5
This book is well organized. I used the book as a reference guide to tap into SQL Server 7.0 's Book Online. Don't depend on any single reference book on the market to pass your 70-028 exam. Your most authoritative source is the Book Online. This book made me to get familiar with the Book Online, and helped me passed the exam.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Server 7 Developer's Guide
Publisher: Osborne Publishing
Authors: Michael Otey, Paul Conte
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Server 7 Developer's Guide
Publisher: Osborne Publishing
Authors: Michael Otey, Paul Conte
Rating: 5/5
If you only want one book on the subject of developing for SQL Server 7.0, this book is it. What separates this book from others is its ability to successfully transition from a 50,000' overview to the ground level where the job is done. The process of landing high level concepts occurs through resolving timeless issues that confront every professional developer, regardless of the platform. This book takes on the fundamentals of SQL, provides insight on database design techniques and then explains the mechanics of how to link an application with SQL Server. Although there are books available on each of these subjects, the authors present the information with the right blend of brevity & thoroughness.SQL Server 7.0 has many new features. The authors do a complete job of explaining what the new features are. They have provided insights and tips you need to know when it is time to set up and administrate the database. The book also nicely covers replication, a subject given one page in Soukup's "Inside SQL Server," and ignored in Vaughn's "Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server."I found this book clearly written and concise, although it is almost one thousand pages. Code samples provided on the CD actually work. This is not a comment on the authors - similar books have burned me too many times whose CDs do not support the text. Like the rest of the book, the code is clear, and insightful. I look forward to future books by these authors.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2005 for Developers
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Peter DeBetta
Rating: 5/5
Title: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2005 for Developers
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Peter DeBetta
Rating: 5/5
There's about to be a new version of SQL Server. This book, based on the June 2004 beta level software, gives you the first detailed look at the new features coming in SQL Server 2005. While some features are likely to change before the final software is released, the broad view as given here is likely to remain pretty fixed. By this stage in the development of the new version, these points are well along.
This book does not pretend to be a book on SQL Server, it is intended for the knowledgeable SQL Server user and covers only those points that have been changed for the new version.
From what I can see, the big changes in 2005 are in Security, XML processing, and mirroring. Most of the other things, a few additions to T-SQL, some enhancement of notification and reporting services are included. Then again, I'm looking at it from what I do, you may find that you consider other features to be the most important. Knowing what those are is what this book is all about.
It's certainly a timely book, now is when you need to start planning for the new release.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 4/5
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 4/5
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: Beginning E-Commerce with Visual Basic, ASP, SQL Server 7.0 and MTS
Publisher: Peer Information
Authors: Matthew Reynolds
Rating: 5/5
Title: Beginning E-Commerce with Visual Basic, ASP, SQL Server 7.0 and MTS
Publisher: Peer Information
Authors: Matthew Reynolds
Rating: 5/5
The first time I read this book I found that it quickly put me in a position to develop real world applications. I continue to read through this book and find that each time a new idea or approach to a problem can be extracted an applied to my project at hand.One of the better books I've read on e-commerce in the past 2 years.
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
Overall a good beginners book on SQL. Ben Forta Covers most of the details that Beginners can get stumped on very nicely! A must for anyone just starting to lean SQL!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL: The Complete Reference, Second Edition
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: James R Groff, Paul N. Weinberg
Rating: 1/5
Title: SQL: The Complete Reference, Second Edition
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Authors: James R Groff, Paul N. Weinberg
Rating: 1/5
For a reference book, it does a terrible job providing a quick reference for the syntax. The book is very unorganized, and the diagrams are terrible. I don't suggest you buy this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP Programming for Windows
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Andrew Stopford
Rating: 4/5
Title: PHP Programming for Windows
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Andrew Stopford
Rating: 4/5
I just had the pleasure of reading New Riders' "PHP Programming for Windows" by Andrew Stopford. This book is excellent, and despite what the title may imply is actually geared towards both PHP and ASP developers, not trying to detract you from migrating away from a Microsoft-centric infrastructure (i.e., Windows 2000/XP, SQL Server, ASP, .NET, etc). Rather, it lends a helping hand for developers needing to cross-integrate a project with an existing infrastructure, with an emphasis on performance. You can take your existing ASP knowledge and extend it, even if only for the moment.As such, the book offers a quick run-though of the structure of PHP as a developmental platform and gives a brief introduction into PHP programming. Admittedly, some experience with PHP or having read another book on learning how to program with PHP is helpful if one is to get the most out of this book; but if you're only looking to use PHP in an integration project, you'll learn enough to get by.The book is concise and to the point, being a quick 294 pages long. It's a fast read, and well worth it. The book's content is up-to-date, providing discussions about integrating PHP with .NET, as well as with Windows DNA architectures.The book's tone is written in such a way as to provide an academic, historical perspective on the evolution of PHP in the world of dynamic Web development, and defends against the popular and important theory that PHP has no place in the Web services arena, as most open-source communities tend to be disenfranchised when a new paradigm comes about. You can still create XML Web services using Microsoft technologies, and call them via PHP scripts, and an excellent discussion of using PHP to call remote/local COM objects within the scope of a Microsoft platform to create powerful XML Web services is presented.The most significant discussions I found were the chapters on using PHP with Windows servers, using PHP to call COM objects, data access using SQL Server, Oracle, and MySQL back-ends, XML management, and how to work with Active Directory. But the biggest value for me was on a healthy discussion of sharing session information with ASP 3.0 and ASP.NET Web apps through Web-distributed data exchange (WDDX). Really cool stuff.However, like many New Riders titles, some additional proofreading could have been helpful. The code was a bit buggy in some places, and there were sporadic, yet annoying writing snafus.But the benefits far outweigh the shortcomings, of which there are very few. In short, if you're a Microsoft developer, and know a little bit about PHP already (or have a couple of days to spend practicing), this book will take you a long way.
