IT programming books related reviews
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
Ben Forta has done a great job distilling the most pertinent basic SQL concepts into simple, easy to read form. Befitting its "10 minute" moniker, this is a wonderful book for new SQL programmers. But it's also subtly different in a way that will particularly suit folks coming into SQL for the first time as part of their involvement in using web database development tools such as ColdFusion and Active Server Pages.One one level, any new SQL programmer using any DBMS will appreciate the easily digested coverage of the fundamental query and update basics. The books is well-written, an easy read, and goes beyond those basics without going too far. Even moderately experienced readers will be well-served by the clear, simple discussions of important topics (like data manipulation and aggregating functions, grouping data, subqueries, views, etc) that can be easily forgotten, as well as other topics (such as using transactions, constraints, triggers, etc.) that can get lost in wading through other more voluminous tomes. Ben presents a very nice balance of fundamental topics.But there's more to this book than being a simple intro to SQL. That audience of web db developers is an exploding one, and they bring some unique needs for which Ben provides a valuable perspective. Most SQL books have some DBMS-specific bias, despite SQL's purpose as a tool for accessing any kind of database in a consistent manner. Web application development environments like ASP and CF are also similarly database-agnostic. There are subtle points about using SQL in such environments that are different from using it, say, in a query builder or in a client/server environment.Ben, who was lead author of the highly regarded ColdFusion Web Application Construction Kit, presents the subjects in a manner suitable to such programmers and the way they'd code SQL and use its results, and he also sprinkles in discussions of how to take care of cross-platform issues on particular tasks, and often offers specific solutions for the most popular DBMS's used by that audience, such as Access, SQL Server, and Oracle.On still another level, other books also get bogged down in issues of database design, creation, administration, security, etc. Important though those topics are, most development shops are growing to a point where those tasks are being handled by different people, and the developer who simply wants to code retrieval and update applications is challenged to find a good intro sql book that doesn't wade into detail on topics that they may not yet be able to understand, let alone ever need to perform. There are other great books that do cover those subjects, and readers would do well to seek those out as they progress in their learning.It certainly makes it challenging to find (and no less to write) a SQL book. There are just so many potential audiences. For its intended purpose though, "Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes" is very well done. As in his previous books, Ben is right on the money--and for a very low price, at that!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 1/5
Title: Transact-SQL Programming
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Lee Gould, Andrew Zanevsky, Kevin Kline
Rating: 1/5
I have no doubt that the authors know Transact-SQL very well. The problem is, they inexplicably focus on old versions of it in this book. SQL 7 is practically omitted from this book entirely. There's no coverage of fulltext searching. No coverage of SELECT TOP or the statistical aggregate functions. No coverage of automation, the BULK INSERT command, or the many other commands that were new or that changed significantly in version 7.0. This is simply inexcusable, and I recommend you skip this book because of it.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 2/5
Title: The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Ken Henderson
Rating: 2/5
Wonderful book for advanced SQL developers. Skips the basic stuff you can read in BOL and gets down to exactly what advanced developers can't find anywhere else.This book gave me new approaches and ideas for programming with TSQL that I haven't found anywhere else.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Robert Vieira
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Robert Vieira
Rating: 5/5
Rob Vieira's work is the one of the most enjoyable technical references in my collection. Read the author's comments, also posted on Amazon.com, for a sample of his writing style. This book is worth every penny of the retail price. Rob does an excellent job explaining highly technical processes without losing the reader or skipping important details. The author covers many of SQL's features that are not well-documented by Microsoft, and he ties them in when important. At some point in the book I remember him explaining why BLOBs are so much slower when stored within a database than the computer's file system, and ways to handle the performance issue. He also gives the reader a heads up on how much overhead alternative processes use and saves us from some trial-and-error. Below is a summary of the book's TOC. I hope I didn't butcher any information here. (number of pages in each chapter is approximate):1) Particulars and History - N-Tier architecture, Certification, .NET (Now Visual Studio compiled to an interpreted language, like Java. Is Linux in Microsoft's future?)2) RDBMS Basics: What makes up a SQL Server database?3) Tools of the trade -- No, not your boss! Explains the usefulness of Books Online, Client/Server utils. Enterprise Mgr, Query Analyzer, etc.4) The Foundation Statements or T-SQL -- 38 pages of the basics, starting with SELECT Statements and progressing through INSERT and DELETE statements5) Joining Tables -- (~30 pages) INNER and OUTER JOINs, UNION, FULL and CROSS JOINs 6) Creating and Altering Tables -- explains both the SQL syntax and how to do it using the GUI tools7) Constraints -- (~30 pages)8) Normalization and Other Basic Design Issues -- (~50 pages) Reviews normal form, basic relationships, diagramming, Data types, and de-normalization9) SQL Server Storage and index Structures -- (~40 pages) SQL's evolution. Indexes, B-Trees, WHEN and HOW to use indexes to improve performance, maintenance10) Views (~30 pages) -- Creating views, using views to change data (Updating multi-table views are covered in ch. 15), Schema binding and Index Views.11) Writing Scripts and Batches -- Starts with the basics; covers some of the @@ functions (It's most important that you understand these to efficiently use MSSQL Server). 12) Stored Procedures -- (~75 pages) This chapter is a monster. Covers SQL 2000's debugger as well as anything you can think of for stored procedures, including recursive use. Explains the importance of WITH RECOMPILE, among other things13) User Defined Functions -- (~20 pages) UDFs, UDFs that return tables, Determinism, Creating "System" Functions.14) Transactions and Locks -- (~35 pages) Covers fundamental database design issues for multi-user, complex-transaction environments15) Triggers -- (~50 pages) Excellent chapter. Covers new Trigger features of SQL 2000 like Firing Order and INSTEAD OF Triggers for multi-table View changes. 16) Advanced Queries -- (~26 pages) Nested Subqueries, Correlated Subqueries, Derived Tables, Performance Considerations17) Distributed Queries and Transactions -- (~30 pages) cross-server transactions18) SQL Cursors -- (~36 pages) Why I bought this book. Covers a cursor's lifetime, scope, types of, performance considerations, et cetera. Must-know information. 19) A Brief XML Primer -- (~22 pages) I haven't yet read this chapter; hopefully it's as easy-to-follow as the rest. Covers XML Basics, Namespaces, Valid vs. Well-formed DTDs and Schemas, Transformations XSLT20) Integration of XML in SQL Server -- (~70 pages) The FOR XML Clause, HTTP Access, Streaming XML21) The Bulk Copy Program (bcp)22) Introduction to Data Transformation Services -- (~50 pages) DTS Package Editor, Import/Export Wizard, Creating a simple transformation package, using DTS in place of bcp23) Replication -- (~75 pages) 24) Advanced Design -- (~25 pages) Here Rob goes back to database design and arms us with the idea that you can bend the rules a little bit, and even tells us when it might be a good idea. He also goes into a little more detail on database diagramming. 25) Analysis Services -- (~50 pages) OLAP, OLTP, Data Mining, and which to use. Dimensional Databases, OLAP Storage Types, Data Warehouse concepts, DTS (Validation, Scrubbing, Migration, Validation), meta-data and teh Repository, Data Mining, Analysis Manager26) Full-Text Search -- (~25 pages)27) English Query -- (~55 pages) 28) Security -- (~40 pages)29) Performance Tuning -- (~35 pages)30) Administration Overview -- (~40 pages)31) Advanced DTS -- (~35 pages) DTS Object Model, The Package Object, Dynamic Properties Task, The MultiPhase Data Pump, Optimizing Data Loads in DTS32) Scripting Administrative Functions with WMI -- (~50 pages) I've only briefly gone through this chapter, but from my experience in working with WMI, it's a bear to teach yourself. WMI is one of the most powerful features of Windows. It has its own Query Language, WQL, similar to SQL, which programmers can use to remotely draw information and automate core features and settings within windows as well as administer an SQL server. The syntax of WMI scripts is similar to that of ADO/SQL, only with a more complex object model and deeper hierarchy than ADO.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7 Administrator's Guide
Publisher: Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade
Authors: Ron Talmage
Rating: 1/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7 Administrator's Guide
Publisher: Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade
Authors: Ron Talmage
Rating: 1/5
My big problem with this book is the redundancy between it and the Microsoft documentation, particularly the BOL. Anything of value in this book is also in the BOL. The rest -- glib comments and generally poor writing -- you can do without. I'm a SQL Server trainer, and our books committee recently rejected this one for all the reasons above. Suggest that you do the same.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 3/5
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 3/5
I highly recommended this book to anyone who wants to build web sites. I went through every chapter with ease. The examples are well documented and explained. For the developer who needs the details, I used RedHat9 Pro and did not have to update anything to run the examples.The Integrated Development Environment I used for the examples in this book incorporated a Linux Server with RedHat9, an internal NT4.0 network and a Windows NT4.0 workstation.I was able to develop custom dynamic web pages much easier with PHP than with the WYSIWYG editor. This book is structured for teaching the development dynamics of any size web site from the small business to the large corporate site that use or require many writers contributing to the sites development. The examples in this book also may be customized to fit almost any website needs and is a great template for future development. New to PHP and MySQL ?; Then the first few chapters will get you up to speed quickly.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP by Example
Publisher: Que
Authors: Toby Butzon
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP by Example
Publisher: Que
Authors: Toby Butzon
Rating: 5/5
I had an advanced knowledge of HTML before reading this book as well as some C++ and Perl. Right from the start I loved this book. I read it through in 2 days and most of the basics stuck in my memory. Butzon is straight to the point with everything and shows you examples of how everything works and can be put to practical use. I still use the book as a referance if I forget something.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Database Implementation Training Kit (Training Kit)
Publisher: Microsoft Press Rating: 1/5
Title: Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Database Implementation Training Kit (Training Kit)
Publisher: Microsoft Press Rating: 1/5
I am a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and have used both the 3 ringed binder materials as well as the self-study materials. Both are blessed by Microsoft, and as the description states, are identical; they in fact are.With that said I've taught 832 and 833 classes and I can state that in no way will the instructor led nor the self-study course prepare you for the exams. Why you ask? Well I took t he Beta Exams for both parts of the SQL Server exams and I can tell you that the Microsoft courses fail greatly at preparing you for the exam.Suggest you wait for Transcender to come out with their practice exams and study them well, in particular the explainations given for the correct and incorrect answeres. Buy only the books, etc they used as references. You will be miles ahead and money saved.Regards,Steve Grigsby, MCSE, MCT, MCP+I and soon MCDBA
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional Apache Tomcat
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Chanoch Wiggers, Ben Galbraith, Vivek Chopra, Sing Li, Debashish Bhattacharjee, Amit Bakore, Romin Irani, Sandip Bhattacharya, Chad Fowler
Rating: 5/5
Title: Professional Apache Tomcat
Publisher: Wrox
Authors: Chanoch Wiggers, Ben Galbraith, Vivek Chopra, Sing Li, Debashish Bhattacharjee, Amit Bakore, Romin Irani, Sandip Bhattacharya, Chad Fowler
Rating: 5/5
First, the book covers the "old" Tomcat 3.x and the "new" Tomcat 4.x. I used it with 4.1.12 and the 4.1.15 (alpha).I am a software developer that recently changes to the world of XML/XSLT. I am using Apache Cocoon at work. And I can said that this book is a must have to everyone who wants understand how Apache Tomcat works, how to configure and how get the best performance most from it.You can will learn how to test the application load before you deploy it.When you will use this book to solve a problem, you will smile when you will see the picture at front of the book, because your problem will be solved. ;-DI recommend to buy this book.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 5/5
Title: PHP and MySQL Web Development
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling, Laura Thomson
Rating: 5/5
I bought this book based on the recommendations of the previous reviews you see here. Admittedly I found the setup section somewhat confusing for those wanting to setup their php and mysql on Windows XP, eventually I sought advice from various forums and now run php as an ISAPI module in IIS, which works beautifully. To be fair the packages used in the setup are on the books CD's, but are now somewhat dated.However the book is still one of the best I have read and covers a large scope of work for the beginner to the advanced php + mysql backend applications, with extremely well structured examples and references that will get you up to speed with the more challenging mainstream applications later in the book.The sections on MySQL is very comprehensive but well researched and presented. Other topics include OpenSSL, GD support for Image manipulation and PDF file generation.
