IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft Access Developer's Guide to SQL Server
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Andy Baron, Mary Chipman
Rating: 5/5
Title: Microsoft Access Developer's Guide to SQL Server
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Andy Baron, Mary Chipman
Rating: 5/5
I have been an Access developer since 1.1 (1993). I have bought many a book over the years. Some good, some bad. This book, however, is super! It is designed totally with the Access developer in mind. All of the questions that popped into my head seemed to be answered in practical terms chapter by chapter. The organization is terrific and the flow is second to none. The topics that are worth repeating are repeated while others are left for a one-time only view. The writing is easy to digest, powerful and very explanatory. The pictures are all also very helpful. You can tell the writers paid attention to every line they wrote. But they also inject a human kind of writing style which keeps things interesting throughout.In addition to a thorough discussion on SQL Server security vs. Access security, data conversion, upsizing, etc., the book covers the differences among MDWs, MDEs, ADPs and ADEs beautifully and it addresses scenarios for when to use stored procedures, server functions, views, etc and with great attention to detail. The chapters ADO vs. DAO and on T-SQL are well written too. Later the book even goes into simplifying building multi-tier apps with Access as front end, VB-based COM+ components in the middle and of course, SQL Server sitting in the back. And just when you think the last chapter will be a letdown as many last chapters are, it wows you with an incredible amount of insight into how to optimize, backup and perform other settings in SQL Server. If you are a serious Access developer like me, and are timid about moving full force into SQL Server, then this is the book for you! I recommend it highly!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Beginning Visual Basic SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Thearon Willis
Rating: 1/5
Title: Beginning Visual Basic SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Thearon Willis
Rating: 1/5
This book alleges that it is for visual basic beginners. Onpage 5 it tells you that this is for experienced visual basic developers. His claim is that he is an experienced database guru. But, by page 23 after he completely fouls up a relatively simple employee name and address file into 7 different tables it is apparent that Thearon should spend more time learning his craft than trying to pass himself off (thru Amazon and Wrox) as an expert.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 3/5
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 3/5
I just bought it, and while it seems to have a ton of useful info (much or all is probably online for free and more current, but still it's sometimes nice to have a book), one OBVIOUS omission is describing how to make the "referring URL" appear in the logs (a CustomLog directive). This is one of the most USEFUL hacks to Apache. There are 3 places in the book where this might have been mentioned. Is O'Reilly perhaps planning an "Advanced Apache" book?!
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCAD/MCSE/MCDBA Self-Paced Training Kit: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Database Design and Implementation, Exam 70-229, Second Edition
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Corporation
Rating: 3/5
Title: MCAD/MCSE/MCDBA Self-Paced Training Kit: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Database Design and Implementation, Exam 70-229, Second Edition
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Corporation
Rating: 3/5
I used this book with the intention of passing Microsoft's 70-229 exam. Although I took the exam yesterday and passed, it was not due to the material in this book as much as it was taking practice exams.
As I read this book, all I could think is that it was a review of what I already knew. I have been a software developer using SQL for over 10 years now and I was a bit worried that this book wasn't giving me the information I needed to pass the exam. I got a great refresher of SQL DDL and DML commands and even learned a few things I didn't know. I learned a little about how SQL Server works specifically.
It wasn't until I finished reading the book and began taking the Transcender practice exams that I began to realize what I would be in store for on the actual exam. The Transcender practice exams were a very accurate simulation as to how the actual exam would look, I would recommend them to anyone. As a matter of fact, some of the Transcender exam questions looked very similar to ones I saw on the real exam. I did not take the practice test in the text of the book or on the supplied CD, so I cannot comment on their quality. From my experience, the exams offered for free in books are not very good.
This book would be a lot better if it modeled the exam a bit more. The exam likes to present a situation and ask what you should do to solve a particular problem. For instance, a example Security question on the exam goes something like this:
"John creates a table and you create a view on that table. Neither of you belong to the sysadmin role. The users in the sales department try using the view and they report that they cannot access the information they need. What should you do?"
I would have liked the book more if it presented examples like this to illustrate the information presented. As a matter of fact, this book reminds me of an information dump. Like most Microsoft exam study guides I have read in the past, they simply back up the information truck and dump the load onto you. You are responsible for figuring out how to apply that knowledge. But guess what? The exam test you on applying that knowledge.
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
This is a fair PHP book. At first glance I thought the book was just a re-hash of the on-line docs, but in reality the information in the book is much more in depth.If you like a paper reference this is a good starting point. The book only hits the basics of PHP programming and should go into more detail in places.This book combined with PHP3 programming by Medinets is a good combination. The Atkinson book will get you started but the Medinets book will deepen your knowledge of PHP. The examples and real-life approach to the Medinets book make it the best choice.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MCSE SQL Server 2000 Database Design Exam Cram (Exam: 70-229)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Sean Chase, Richard McMahon
Rating: 2/5
Title: MCSE SQL Server 2000 Database Design Exam Cram (Exam: 70-229)
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
Authors: Sean Chase, Richard McMahon
Rating: 2/5
It's a good study guide in the sense that it tells you what might be on the test - but it doesn't go into detail. A lot of wasted words on the different types of tests.... but when it comes to the actual questions, often it says " there will be several questions about .... review the technical reference to prepare youself." Like, HELLO?!?! that's why I bought this book. But it does give you a list of what to know. Definitely not worth the price!
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: 4/5
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: 4/5
I'm new to SQL and don't have any other SQL books, but I found this book to be pretty helpful. The authors style is easy to read for the most part, but at times he gets a little long winded and kind of glosses over important technical points in an attempt to give you the broad picture. Nevertheless, it remains pretty readable overall. Personally, I found there to be a steep difference in the learning curve between the first and second halves of the book. The first 7 chapters are basically skimable material and I think the book would benefit from dedicating more pages to chapters 8 through 14 where most of the real meat is (joins, subqueries, grouping, etc.). Between the sample statements and the problems in the back of the book, there are lots of good examples, and I do feel like a learned a lot of SQL.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP/MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner
Publisher: Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade
Authors: Andy Harris
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP/MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner
Publisher: Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade
Authors: Andy Harris
Rating: 5/5
One of the Best books I have ever read ,not only in Computers but in general.The author has brought out the exciting world of PHP/MySQL to a dumbo like me..!!To put in a nutshell when I finished reading the book I felt that someone who has guided me over is gone !Needless to say that I strongly recommend this book for beginners..! :)
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Seo a'Chroit Ruadh
Publisher: Child's Play International Ltd
Authors: Child's Play
Rating: 5/5
Title: Seo a'Chroit Ruadh
Publisher: Child's Play International Ltd
Authors: Child's Play
Rating: 5/5
My daughter has learned several animal sounds thanks to this book. She loves the bright pictures and the song. We read this one often.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Joe Celko's SQL Puzzles and Answers (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
Authors: Joe Celko
Rating: 4/5
Title: Joe Celko's SQL Puzzles and Answers (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
Authors: Joe Celko
Rating: 4/5
This is a very nice book! I used it to increase the SQL level of my employees. We did two puzzles a week, and compared our answers. And it sure helped. But there are some buts in this story. First, the puzzles are not always defined well, so you do not know what to do before you see the discussion in the answer part. Second, a lot of the solutions are not very good. Whenever I found a better one, I mailed Joe Celko. Every time he replied to me (very nice!) that somebody else also pointed it out and that there were even better solutions that mine. This means that the solutions are not always that good in the book. But still, it has alo of good brainteasers. But try them first yourself before looking to the answers as your answer could be better.
