IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7 DBA Survival Guide
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Orryn Sledge
Rating: 5/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7 DBA Survival Guide
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Orryn Sledge
Rating: 5/5
This book is a must have...It is packed full of information yet easy enough to read.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 1/5
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 1/5
An unwelcome reminder that not everything that comes from O'Reilly is top notch.This book seems to have been written half heartedly. The explanations of many of the directives in the configuration file seem to be repetitions of online manual contents with the authors not taking the time to provide really useful insights or clarify difficult concepts.The attitude of the book seems to be: "This is what we did to get Apache running on BSD and Windows. If it helps you, great, if not, tough !"I also have a doubt about the technical credibility of the authors. Their advice seems glib and dubious at times.I have run Apache on Windows before without consulting documentation and I expected to learn something useful from this book. Not in the 1st three chapters.Not a great tutorial. Not a very good reference manual.One of the few books I would lend to someone and probably not worry about it being returned.
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Title:
Publisher: Rating: 4/5
Title:
Publisher: Rating: 4/5
I found the book altogether excellent but the examples all center around a class room environment. Most development is for businesses centred around employees. The section on exception handling needs additional information, which is found in other books on the same subject. Overall, its an excellent book, well written and a great help in development and plsql programming !!!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: William R. Vaughn
Rating: 1/5
Title: Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Authors: William R. Vaughn
Rating: 1/5
I've been using VB for years, ASP since 1.0, and SQL 7.0 since the beta. I bought this book hoping to learn some new stuff. By the first 4 chapters I've found find a lot of useless and offputting MS polemics, and a hodgepodge of information covering versions of Jet up to Access 9.0 (Office 2000?) and SQL 7.0. Makes fun of web applications because of thin-client metaphor - isn't there eenough room for all types of systems in our increasingly complex world today? This book needs to get a lot more focused. I can't believe the amount of time dedicated to even mentioning 16-bit platforms. If you need info on developing for legacy systems - use the legacy books already on your bookshelf! I recommend WROX's ADO 2.0 Programmer's reference for one - and it's smaller and cheaper. I'm not sure I'll even finish reading this one, and it definitely won't find its way into my most used books.
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
I had a nagging and peculiar performance problem with a specific query involving a quirk in the Oracle optimizer which I had been trying to solve on and off for months. With the help of this book, I resolved the problem. It has a level of detail in query optimization way beyond other "highly recommended" books. The explanations are clear, *complete* (completeness was lacking in the other books), and easy and enjoyable to read. I finally have the understanding of these Oracle internals that I have been seeking!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: A Visual Introduction to SQL
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: David Chappell, J. Harvey Trimble
Rating: 5/5
Title: A Visual Introduction to SQL
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: David Chappell, J. Harvey Trimble
Rating: 5/5
I used this book when I needed to pick up SQL fast. I worked in an organization where I had to build Teradata Data Bases and used SQL to select and move the data. The illustrations really help visualize every aspect of assembling an SQL program and how it interfaces with the data base. I still use it today when I need to be reminded of a particular syntax. Don't loan this book out if you ever want to see it again. I did and now I'm buying another book!
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Logging in Java with the JDK 1.4 Logging API and Apache log4j
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Samudra Gupta
Rating: 1/5
Title: Logging in Java with the JDK 1.4 Logging API and Apache log4j
Publisher: Apress
Authors: Samudra Gupta
Rating: 1/5
I bought this book based on the review of Thomas Paul, who has supposedly read it. If he had read this book then he would still be suffering migranes like I am. Without a doubt the worse book on logging I have read. I really wanted to get into this book and write some of my own logging programs. My advice to anyone who wants to do the same is to go to the Jakarta website where they have much better documentation and its free! Save your money. don't buy this book unless you like to read to help you sleep.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PC Annoyances, Second Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steve Bass
Rating: 5/5
Title: PC Annoyances, Second Edition
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Steve Bass
Rating: 5/5
Steve; Just wanted to say thank you for the copy of your book.I have already started using some of the tips,and already can see an improvement in the performance of my PC. Thanks
again and keep up the good work
Ed McFadden
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Joe Celko's SQL for Smarties: Advanced SQL Programming (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
Authors: Joe Celko
Rating: 3/5
Title: Joe Celko's SQL for Smarties: Advanced SQL Programming (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
Authors: Joe Celko
Rating: 3/5
Not so much unimpressed at Joe's knowledge, which is impressive indeed: the book reads a lot more like a teaching text than most technical books.But there are things in here which may lead astray some who have already done things that Joe advises strongly against. I will concentrate on one example: In chapter 3 "Numeric Data in SQL", under the heading "Generator Functions" (e.g., IDENTITY, AUTO_INCREMENT) we get this doozy: "This is a horrible, nonstandard, nonrelational proprietary extension that should be avoided whenever possible". Just a statement, no reason whatsoever provided for it, because I guess he assumes we know some "math rule" or something behind why it is such a bad idea. Now, we must think for a minute why one uses such a data column. In my own case, I have a table called Parts that contains parts from several different companies. So, I guess Joe would have me make a composite primary key from PN and CompanyID. But, wait a minute, that complicates matters when I need to have a foreign key reference to the Parts table, and, oh by the way, just what is CompanyID anyway, maybe some other composite key, or some goofy "rule-based" (can you say TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE) thing? You can't seriously believe that "ALFKI" is a better key than,say, 33. What happens when I get a new customer named "Alfred Kiplinger", and have to change the "rule" that I came up with for defining the primary key? See the problem? You're not going to remember the ID anyway, because the rule will be broken at some point. I also happen to think that a part number (to give one example) should be changeable. So, I don't make PN the primary key (because you should NEVER change a PK), I simply have the database generate one for me. What am I missing here? It was not explained to me in this book, it was just a blanket statement of preference, put across like a hard and fast rule.But then come the contradictions. In the very next chapter on temporal data types, we get a very long paragraph on "key generators" and how they need to be designed to eliminate or minimize identical keys (I kid ye not!). He talks about elaborate hashing algorithms, the server system clock, random number generators, and how pseudorandom numbers are not usually a problem since the cycle size can be "hundreds of thousands or even millions of numbers". Huh? Amazon has 50,000,000 customers! I'm sure they wouldn't be too happy if "only" every millionth one had the same id! No mention in this entire section on GUID or UNIQUEIDENTIFIER, which won't repeat forever in the known universe!Then there is seeming randomness to the topics introduced. I think I work with a guy that's a lot like Joe, but man, can it be hard to follow the "why" of what he is talking about! I usually figure it out about two days later when I'm sitting at my desk working on something completely different. Here's one example: We go from an incredibly long section on Domain Key Normal Form, with all of its calculus functional dependency stuff ("A determines B, therefore if CA = B, &c, &c, &c....."), to a paragraph right after this about normalization, and how a Students table should not have "Student data and also bowling scores". But come on, that's DB101, not Math335!Bottom Line: The reason I gave three stars to this book is that I think I misread its intention. I believed it to be a book for someone who knew SQL, and wanted to become more advanced in SQL. Now that I ponder the title, however, I believe that it means "OK, here's a book for you scientific math types out there who want to apply your math degree to learn SQL", i.e., SQL for smarties, not for non-degreed dummies like myself. That, to me, is exactly how the book is written, and it probably succeeds against that yardstick.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Parenting With Google: Instant Advice On Raising Teenagers
Publisher: Authorhouse
Authors: Jenny Holmes
Rating: 5/5
Title: Parenting With Google: Instant Advice On Raising Teenagers
Publisher: Authorhouse
Authors: Jenny Holmes
Rating: 5/5
I loved this book it gets right to the point and is very funny and serious all at the same time. It is so on the right track about raising a teenage child being a single mom. I have read this book 3 times and I think it is a great book. It kept me laughing and crying all at the same time. I can't wait til the next book this new author writes I think she is a great writer.
