IT programming books related reviews
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
Let's see - 600+ code samples, in-depth coverage of all things TSQL, top-notch writing, poignant quotes, code you can actually USE -- what else is there? This one is over the top. My favorite things are:1) The motherlode of undocumented features - some real sleuthing went into uncovering these2) The inclusion of abridged results with the sample queries (allowed me to read through most of the book commuting back and forth to London without breaking out my laptop). That said, Henderson avoids repeating the obvious, and clips where it makes sense (as he promises in the Preface).3) The exhaustive coverage of subjects technically not TSQL-specific, such as full text search, OLE automation, transactions, and cursors. For the first time, I think I finally have a handle on how transactions work.I had to buy a second copy of this book because I wore the first one out! If you'd like to learn the nuances of Transact SQL from a master teacher, get this book and read it cover-to-cover.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Rational Guide to: SQL Server Reporting Services (Rational Guides)
Publisher: Rational Press
Authors: Anthony T. Mann
Rating: 4/5
Title: The Rational Guide to: SQL Server Reporting Services (Rational Guides)
Publisher: Rational Press
Authors: Anthony T. Mann
Rating: 4/5
This book has a reasonable return on your investment. You won't spend much to put it in your library, it won't take long to read and you can expect to learn the basics of reporting services from a number of view points. There two things to keep in mind, though about this book. First, this is very high level overview of the product -- sort of like looking down from a jet cruising along at 30,000 feet. Second, this book covers a lot of topics very quickly. The combination of those two factors means that this book isn't a great introduction to Reporting Services as a whole. That said, it is a very good way to become aware of the major features and issues you're likely to encounter with the product. I would recommend it in two either of two cases:1.) As a primer to Reporting Services before moving on to the Books On-Line which ship with the product or another, more in-depth technical book.2.) As a "map to the terrain" of Reporting Services so you can plan your own learning expeditions with the product.There are a few short comings to the book I'd be remiss not to discuss. Most irksome is the number of times the concept of a Data Set is defined differently. Both the writing style and presentation are choppy. Some times information will be presented as a walk-though with screen captures, some times as bulleted lists and sometimes as just a paragraph of text. While variety in writing is a good thing, inconsistency in presentation is not, pointedly for a title like this. It would have been better to have consistently used a database for the examples that the user should have access to. Finally, the author occasionally references a concept before introducing it. This happens a both the detail level -- like reference the meta data database before defining that that is and at a conceptual level, such as when the author provides a front (what the user sees) to back (what the parts of the service) overview of Reporting Services.I would certainly recommend this book to anybody who is looking a quick and easy introduction Reporting Services. It probably won't be the only book you'll need, but its definitely a step in the right direction.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 1/5
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 1/5
As an experienced developer, I expect that any book of 900+ pages will cover the material in a flowing, yet concise manner, and be applicable in the real world.That was not the case with this book. The writing was stilted and random. The information was no more than you could find in the online manual. The examples were in no way what I would call real world.Perhaps the next release will be better.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Beginning Php 4 (Programmer to Programmer)
Publisher: Peer Information
Authors: Chris Lea, Allan Kent, Ganesh Prasad, Chris Ullman
Rating: 4/5
Title: Beginning Php 4 (Programmer to Programmer)
Publisher: Peer Information
Authors: Chris Lea, Allan Kent, Ganesh Prasad, Chris Ullman
Rating: 4/5
Experienced programmers will find the first few chapters a bit slow, it seems to be aimed at people fairly new to any sort of programming. The pace picks up later in the book, with good sections on connecting to a MySQL database, using XML, generating graphics on the fly etc. The book concludes with a complete sample application using a backend database.For newcomers to PHP it's a good starting place, experienced web programmers/developers could probably jump straight in with Professional PHP.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Performance Optimization and Tuning Handbook
Publisher: Digital Press
Authors: Ken England
Rating: 5/5
Title: The Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Performance Optimization and Tuning Handbook
Publisher: Digital Press
Authors: Ken England
Rating: 5/5
I have been amazed about how much information is in this book. The writing is clear and concise. The long section that details query tuning was an education in itself. I finished the book with a clear understanding of the types of queries and how SQL Server uses them. This book is sitting on my desk now. If you want the information on how to optimize your queries, or the database, this is my recommendation.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 1/5
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 1/5
This book has many codes which simply do not work. For an example, the Listing 1.3 on page 47 does not work. I cannot understand why this book has gotten such a high rating, which made me to buy this book. I wish I did not leave my handwritings so that I may be able to get a refund. Before you decided to buy this book, please go to a local bookstore with a laptop and try the Listing 1.3 on page 47 and others. Hope I did not look too mean by giving my frank feedback of this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Beginning Visual Basic SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Thearon Willis
Rating: 5/5
Title: Beginning Visual Basic SQL Server 7.0
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Thearon Willis
Rating: 5/5
First of all, this book definitely is not an introduction book for Visual Basic. I'd like to give this book 5+ stars if I could. It is not only an EXCELLENT introduction book for MS SQL 7.0 and ADO, but also an EXCELLENT introduction book for how to write the stored procedures and how to use or call a stored procedure in your VB code. I have been looking for a good introduction book for how to write and use the stored procedures with VB for a long time. Finally, I got this one. I really like the Chapter 8: Stored Procedures vs T-SQL Statements. It shows you for a same task in two different ways to do it. One is Stored Procedures, the other one is T-SQL Statements. The side-by-side comparisons of stored procedure and SQL statement is a wonderful idea, especially good for beginner. Mr. Thearon Willis really understands the definition of BEGINNING.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DBA Survival Guide, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Mark Spenik, Orryn Sledge
Rating: 1/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DBA Survival Guide, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Mark Spenik, Orryn Sledge
Rating: 1/5
I bought this book as it had spelt out a solution in the text and reffered to the source code suppossedly online. Tried witht eh publisher for many weeks to get the source code as promised to no avail. A good overview, but no real depth.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Beginning SQL Server 2000 Programming
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Robin Dewson
Rating: 5/5
Title: Beginning SQL Server 2000 Programming
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Robin Dewson
Rating: 5/5
This is an excellent beginners book. From installation through to triggers all you need to know to get up and running. Shame it is missing about User Defined Functions but I thought this was a really good book.Chapter 1 - Good coverage of the versions, whats what. Also liked the installation of SQL Server.
Chapter 2 Covered areas such as Enterprise Manager well and like the Configuring section. Found out how to set some very useful propreties
Chapter 3 - Query Analyzer. Went through every item that a beginner should need as well as an intermediate. Helped me figure out and set up as I wanted
Chapter 4 - This chapter for DB design etc is very clear and concise. I liked the Normalization section as well as relationships as to how these work
Chapter 5/6/7 - Enough coverage and good warnings about the system databases and building the sample db. Also loved the defining tables and the different data types and finally all about the different indexes you can have. Very useful.Chapter 8 - This was my favourite chapter as it showed how to build relationships between tables.
Chapter 9 - didnt think this was really necessary
Chapter 10 - Good basics of backups. Not much on network backups.
Chapter 11 - Good basics again of maintenance
Chapter 12 - Images!! Yes!! No-one else I know touches this.
chapter 13-15 - Loved transactions in the Insert chapter. all the others cover good basics of T-SQL
Chapter 16 - Could have done a bit more on indexing a view but apart from that shows how to create a view well. Also how to use it
Chapter 17/18 - Would have liked to see more about nested stored procedures but again good coverage. Dealing with errors was my favourite part
Chapter 19 - XML - The way so much is going. Maybe book needs updating for SQLXML 3.0?
chapter 20 - A bit advanced for beginners but triggers are a great plus.As I say, this is the best beginning SQL Server book I bought (this was my third!) and I loved the authors style and content. Wasnt confused at any point and found all that was being said to be clear. Wish I had bought it firstIts downfalls? Well images it does say you need a binary stream to input an image but doesnt show any VB code to pass it in. No UDF's or UDT's and no coverage of SQL XML 3. Dedication was interesting but a bit long....
Excellent coverage on how to complete each action in any method you wish so this does lead to excellent T-SQL coverage. Loved it
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 System Administration Online Training Kit (It-Online Training Kit)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr Rating: 4/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 System Administration Online Training Kit (It-Online Training Kit)
Publisher: Microsoft Pr Rating: 4/5
This is the first "online" type of training I have tried from MS. I enjoyed the lecture-style format as opposed to the book-training kits. I agree that it needs to be complemented with Books On-line and Inside SQl Server. But, I definitely came away with some practical experience which I am now using on the job. Knocks on the course, for improvement:The unit on web publishing, with the wrong quiz questions. They should gear the exercises to a higher level. If someone is using this material, MS should make the assumption that we don't need to be told "to close Microsoft Outlook (or any other application) , click the close button". All of these types of statements could have been left out, and more content added to the course.Despite this, it is still a good way to learn the material and I look forward to continuing to the next one.
