IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Database Design
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Louis Davidson, Wrox Author Team
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Database Design
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Louis Davidson, Wrox Author Team
Rating: 5/5
I am old veteran engineer (hardware and software) working mostly alone on a new project for the .NET platform with SQL Server underneath for data. I am using Embarcadero ERStudio for database modeling. I have a great library (more than 20 titles) on relational database modeling and design; but this is the one that I keep on my desk. I am pretty much following this book step by step on my current project. The author uses the IDEF1X diagramming notation for logical design, which, quite conveniently, is what I use in ERStudio.This is a great guide for the experienced professional developer who may do database design only occasionally. Examples are all from the business world. The book is filled with code, which can be downloaded.The 606-page book has two sections: (1) logical design and (2) physical design and implementation. So far I have only completed the first section, but looking ahead it seems that this book will carry me all the way through actual testing of my finished application.The name suggests, perhaps improperly, a particular connection to Microsoft's SQL Server. The book addresses design and implementation issues on a general relational/SQL level; and the specific setups and interfaces (the MMC for example) of Microsoft's latest relational database, SQL Server 2000, are absent. I do not see a single SQL Server screen shot among the hundreds of illustrations. Specifics of setting up SQL Server are available in dozens of other books. This is a software engineering book, not a system administration book. Those making their first attempt at relational design will find the book a bit too challenging unless they are serious professionals.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Itzik Ben-Gan, Tom Moreau
Rating: 5/5
Title: Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Itzik Ben-Gan, Tom Moreau
Rating: 5/5
I have been writing SQL for a few years, and I have almost every book on TSQL. When I glanced over this book, I thought it was pretty good, but I waited until I saw the reviews on Amazon.com to get a second opinion. As the reviews were mostly negative, I did not buy the book back then.Then some time later and with some spare money in hand, I got to the bookstore and this was the ONLY book on TSQL that I did not already own. So I caved in and bought it. This was a very wise move! The help given to me by this book has made it a more than worthwhile investement. I have over 10 SQL servers and have to maintain and write code for all of them. This books has been extraordinary help.I you know very little of SQL, do not buy this book, get an intro book instead. But if you have "some" experience with SQL, then this is a great book to get deeper into TSQL. I will change the way you write code and make you a better TSQL developer. Which leads me to wonder about the SQL capabilities of the writers of those negative reviews.... hum ;-)
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 5/5
What is really great about this book is how it tackles SQLXML wholistically--it does not assume that you already know XML and starts from ground-zero. So there is a chapter on just XML itself--nothing Sql-specific. After that it gets into each of the SQLXML pieces one-by-one--you learn them by example and by writing XML docs and code--the very best way. The book also covers many other Sql bases such as writing stored procs and all that involves--so you get the full picture. I highly recommend you read this book if--like me--you create software for Sql 2000 for a living.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Official Guide to Mini SQL 2.0
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Authors: Brian Jepson, David J. Hughes
Rating: 5/5
Title: Official Guide to Mini SQL 2.0
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Authors: Brian Jepson, David J. Hughes
Rating: 5/5
with this book you'll get not only a simple to use database for unix/linux - it's more : you'll also get introducions to HTML,
PHP/FI, Perl, JAVA, ... and how to integrate mSQL in your
applications ...
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Oracle SQL High-Performance Tuning (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Guy Harrison
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle SQL High-Performance Tuning (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Authors: Guy Harrison
Rating: 5/5
This book has it all. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I can only hope that there are similar books available if my work ever shifts to competing databases. After 3 years of working with Oracle 7, I've only amassed about 1% of the practical knowledge and insights that Mr. Harrison shares with us in this book. Like the title suggests, it teaches Oracle database and SQL statement performance tuning rules, strategies and tips. However, it also dips into other valuable topics like principles of indexing, explaining the ever-mysterious tkprof output, configuring and tuning the database server itself, and listing other resources to fill the void of Oracle documentation. This book and Fuerstein's PL/SQL programming book have become standard issue for all developers on our project.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Web Application Development with PHP 4.0 (with CD-ROM)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Tobias Ratschiller, Till Gerken
Rating: 1/5
Title: Web Application Development with PHP 4.0 (with CD-ROM)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Tobias Ratschiller, Till Gerken
Rating: 1/5
No, this book is not for beginners. Maybe it's not for absolute gurus, either. But for those of us in the middle-to-advanced stage, it's a godsend.This is the first PHP book I found that explained the entire process and didn't just regurgitate the PHP function reference with a few extra snippets of code. The authors, by the way, have written some great PHP tools. If I hadn't seen PHPMyAdmin, I probably would not be using PHP or MySQL. They have had a huge impact on the PHP community and are extremely skilled at writing both code and books like this.Evaluate your needs. If you don't know anything about programming or PHP, start with Julie Meloni's book or the Wrox books. If you've been programming for 20 years, know how to create a complex application, know all about CVS and PHPLib, go get a function reference and dig in. If you have some PHP under your belt and are looking for a reference to help you understand application development, GET THIS BOOK.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 5/5
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 5/5
Everything I need is in this book. There's much coverage on cursors, triggers, SQL syntax, everything that's needed. Sadly, there's isn't a new one that covers SQL Server 2000 yet. But believe me, when that one comes out, I'll be the first in line!
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
Having used PHP for about 2 years now, I was fairly comfortable with the language and originally bought the book because I saw Sterling at the PHP Conference and liked his attitude so I thought I'd buy his book. The approach of this book is far different from most of those lofty, heady books with their $foo after $foobar examples of basically useless coding ideas. Sterling takes real life needs and cooks them up with short, useable snippets of code. He says in the opening that, "This book is meant [to used over and over as a daily reference for problem solving]." Well, Sterling, you hit the mark. Another nice thing was that I started finding functions that I didn't even know existed and then started imagining uses for them to solve problems I hadn't thought of as problems!There is only one shortcoming to this book (with the exception of Julie Meloni becoming Julie "Melon" in the opening section :P), the lack of source code availability. If you want to see the samples in action and play with them, start typing. That's not too bad for most of the 10-30 line snippets, but for things like the basic search-engine code, it's quite tedious. I OCR'd it... but not everyone has that ability. Hopefully SAMS will either get him a CD to include in his book next time or set up some web space for us to grab it.
Product: Book Unknown Binding
Title: Sybase SQL Server 11 Unleashed
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ray Rankins, Jeff Garbus, David Solomon, Bennett W. McEwan
Rating: 4/5
Title: Sybase SQL Server 11 Unleashed
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ray Rankins, Jeff Garbus, David Solomon, Bennett W. McEwan
Rating: 4/5
This is the perfect dba reference book, since it goes into details of virutally everything a dba will encounter (rep server not withstanding), from indexes to backup and recovery. Of course the perfect complement would be to have the sybase books on-line or somewhere handy, this is an all-round good reference. Also, if you have to get your head around UNIX as DBA and SA is quickly becoming a combined function, I recommend the UNIX unleashed book; just don't plan on having a social life for the next few years. I have the DBA Survival Guide by Panttaja, et al and it is lacking in many respects. With only about $13.00 between these 2 books, this one wins hands down.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Visual Basic Developer's Guide to E-Commerce with ASP and SQL Server
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Noel Jerke
Rating: 3/5
Title: Visual Basic Developer's Guide to E-Commerce with ASP and SQL Server
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Noel Jerke
Rating: 3/5
The book is excellent at presenting all the required tools to build an online store. It give you an overview and key features of each tools - But it doesn't tell you very much as how to use such tools. Don't expect to learn ASP or SQL here if you are new to ASP and SQL. There are lots of ASP codes and SQL queries in this book - just no explanation. I find that the online store sample in the book too simple, Hardly complex enough to for reader to learn new techniques (if user level is Intermediate/Advanced). In general, too much reading for a small amount of new information. Deserves 3 stars for excellent overview of each tools and good layout of the Table of Content (the indexing is also good).
