IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 5/5
Title: Apache: the Definitive Guide (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie
Rating: 5/5
I am a computer professional and I got the book in order to install and run Apache on our company web servers. I do know my way around UNIX and NT, but I'm no system administrator.I was shocked at the bad reviews. I found this book to be a great read and organized as should be. The only reason I think someone would not like this book is if they are use to GUI tools in the Windows world. If you know UNIX/LINUX and aren't scared of OS command lines, this book is great. If you are a Windows geek, this book may not be that great, but let's face it, Apache and TCP/IP is UNIX at it's best.I found this book a good training source and reference manual.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Professional Apache 2.0
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Peter Wainwright, Poornachandra, Dr. Sarang, Afrasiab Ahmad, Sean Chittneden, Vivek Chopra, Micheal Link, Stephen G. Wadlow, Mathew Antony
Rating: 4/5
Title: Professional Apache 2.0
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Peter Wainwright, Poornachandra, Dr. Sarang, Afrasiab Ahmad, Sean Chittneden, Vivek Chopra, Micheal Link, Stephen G. Wadlow, Mathew Antony
Rating: 4/5
Books on Apache version 2 are still thin on the ground so finding this was a blessing.Wainwright has written a good book that starts with the absolute basics and covers almost everything you will need to know about running an Apache 2.0 web server, including building, installing, configuring and fine tuning. He also takes care to point out the differences between 1.3.x and 2.0 versions and gives you details on the changes between versions - not just between 1.3 and 2.0 but also the differences in 1.3 sub versions.The sections on security and fine tuning are invaluable, well written and chock full of extremely good advice - ignore this stuff at your peril.There are some typographic errors, but not many for such a large volume. Some might also find the style dense - some sections deserve reading twice - but this is more that Peter is trying to get so much information in than any real deficiency in his writing. There are enought examples to make the text understandable without padding the volume out unnecessarily, though a couple of the most annoying typo's were in examples.It is certainly better than Kabir's 'Apache Server 2 Bible' which does not really cover enough for real world Apache administrator's. I would recommend this book to all Apache administrator's. Even if you don't have a 2.0 server in production (I currently don't) you will find the book essential for starting the testing and migrating. At the moment I'm working on some software in PHP, Perl and Java and I'm finding this book extremely useful as I run 2.0 on a test installation.I give it only four stars as the information you require is sometimes a little scattered - not badly so but enough that I noticed it when first using the book to configure an Apache 2 server. If you are configuring one from scratch without much knowledge then you might not even notice as this book is laid out in a fairly logical order for that.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Practical SQL The Sequel (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman
Authors: Judith Bowman, Judith S. Bowman
Rating: 4/5
Title: Practical SQL The Sequel (With CD-ROM)
Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman
Authors: Judith Bowman, Judith S. Bowman
Rating: 4/5
Unlike many Hollywood works, this sequel to the Practical SQL Handbook (that I have also reviewed here) manages to improve upon the previous title.The title of this work, with its pun (SQL/Sequel), is a great indicator that Bowman can write about a potentially dry topic while interjecting many grins throughout. I really appreciated that touch.One feature of this work that I especially liked is that it is organized by problem type (Managing Multiples) rather than by syntax (SELECT). This, in my opinion, is key to a book with the word 'Practical' in the title. Overall the presentation (layout, font, figures, etc.) is somewhat mundane; however, this does not take away from quality of the work.The sequel also includes a CD with an evaluation copy of Sybase Adaptive Server Anware and a working database, ready for you to use in working through the problems and solutions presented. Unlike many technical works, I found no errors in the problems or solutions presented. The sequel includes chapters on:- Handling Dirty Data - Translating Values - Managing Multiples - Navigating Numbers - Tuning Queries - Using SQL to Write SQL - Understanding the Sample Database - Comparing Data Type and Functions - Using Resources.Another feature that I enjoy is the fact that while the work presents standard SQL information, Bowman includes DBMS-specific variations (Sybase Adaptive Server, Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise, MS SQL Server, Oracle, and Informix), albeit without includin one major DBMS, DB2. The missing DBMS is the reason I rate this work a 4 instead of a 5.I recommend this work to those that work with SQL or databases in general.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP Certification Study Guide
Publisher: Sams Rating: 4/5
Title: PHP Certification Study Guide
Publisher: Sams Rating: 4/5
This book is filled with errors so it is not a good book for learning PHP, but that is not it's purpose. If you have experience coding PHP this book will give you a good overview of topics that may appear on the Zend Certification Exam and a good indication of subjects you may need to study further. Good Luck!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Php Fast & Easy Web Development (Fast & Easy Web Development)
Publisher: Premier Press
Authors: Julie C. Meloni
Rating: 5/5
Title: Php Fast & Easy Web Development (Fast & Easy Web Development)
Publisher: Premier Press
Authors: Julie C. Meloni
Rating: 5/5
I purchased this book to get a feel for PHP, and it did a great job. It is not real in-depth coverage of the language itself, but there are plenty of down and dirty examples of code and how to get things to work quickly. There is a section on installation and configuration, and it assumes that everything installs smoothly (no "what if this didn't work?"). If you have some specific things you want to do with PHP and don't want to learn the whole language right off the bat, this is a great place to start.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: PHP Graphics Handbook
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Jason E. Sweat, Allan Kent, Mitja Slenc
Rating: 3/5
Title: PHP Graphics Handbook
Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Jason E. Sweat, Allan Kent, Mitja Slenc
Rating: 3/5
I am disturbed by the other reviews as the credentials of the reviewers are not revealed. As a graduate student and researcher I like to explore the facts before forming my opinion and judgement. I am new to PHP programming and have learned a great deal about it. Am I an expert? No, but I am a sensible reader.For starters, one must understand that PHP is a programming language and that there is no application that does PHP assembly without having to write the code. Front Page does this for HTML, but there is nothing available for PHP in this sense.PHP is very powerful, yet is weak in graphics capability. In fact, all graphics capability in PHP is only available through third-party libraries. It is not possible to go in great depth of each third-party library without writing a gigantic book. Nor can the authors know each and every library in and out.This book was a good introduction to graphing with PHP and gave a good exposure to what is available and selected a few solutions to show what is possible to achieve. The examples are good and show possibilities well. Most of the code makes sense and is clear to read. However, I do find an occasional typo that can stall a routine in a heartbeat.For the only book available on PHP graphics, it is certainly a good exposure and overview, though it is not a detailed and in-depth presentation for the experienced programmer. The manuals for some of these libraries are detailed and very good, in my opinion (I read a few of them).In short, this book is not for the experienced PHP programmer who is looking for graphing capabilities with in-depth examples and analysis. This book is definitely for the beginning PHP programmer or others who are looking to expand their understanding of graphing in PHP using third-party libraries (the only way to do graphics in PHP).Be careful when you read the code examples so that you do not fall victim to the ocassional typo. Also be warned that in order for the code to work right, all other installation and configuration requirements for the server, library paths, GD library and PHP should be flawlessly functioning.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 4/5
Title: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Pearson Education
Authors: Leon Atkinson
Rating: 4/5
This book provides a compact coverage of things you need to know if you are serious about dynamic web development. Most of the crucial parts, like database connectivity, date/time functions, string functions, etc. are covered. There is even a little chapter about software engineering at the end of the book, explaining software design basics. Overall a very good book, compared with other (non-english) PHP books.
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
I have been working as a programmer for 15+ years. I find this book to be an excellent balance of theory and practicality. I appreciate a writer who can give me an honest opinion, independent of the corporate party line, without taking a negative view of the product. I personally find this book to be much more readable than your average technical manual and it seems (to me) to indicate a depth of knowledge not readily demonstrated by most other authors who seem mostly to paraphrase the rather clinical books-on-line.I found this book to be so helpful that I have purchased his other books on Architecture and Transact-SQL.Before I purchased this book, I read several negative reviews, and was grateful for them. They convinced me beforehand (correctly) that this was the type of book I was looking for. If you are looking for a book with explicit solutions to every permutation of a problem, with code examples of how to solve "your specific" problem, this may not be your book. To me, those tend to fall under the heading of "give a man a fish" versus "teaching a man to fish". When I purchased this book, I was looking for a book that would explain things in a way that would let me know the ins-and-outs of this technology, showing me which things work, and more importantly which don't. I have found chapter 3, "Common Design Patterns" to be an outstanding resource should be required reading for developers learning to write SQL "code".
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Apache Server for Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Ken A. L. Coar
Rating: 4/5
Title: Apache Server for Dummies
Publisher: For Dummies
Authors: Ken A. L. Coar
Rating: 4/5
I bought this book for one purpose: figuring out how to add security to my NT-based site. I've read Chapter 6 four times now, and I can honestly say that if you don't know Unix, this book doesn't help you with security issues.Very very simple stuff, like how to set up a list of usernames and passwords, is completely ignored. All of the command line functions are Unix-based, so if you don't know the NT commands for "kill", "lsof" and "man", this book is very frustrating. If it can't be re-written to accomodate NT users, there should be a separate title for "Apache NT for Dummies."
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft SQL Server 7 in 21 Days
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Richard Waymire, Rick Sawtell
Rating: 5/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft SQL Server 7 in 21 Days
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Richard Waymire, Rick Sawtell
Rating: 5/5
I have purchased this book a month ago,I found it very good and it delivers what it promises. But after reading this book, I also recommend reading the Books Online where you can find more detailed information. This book targets people who are new to MSSQL 7.0 administration, therefore do not expect much for the programming side. Although on the back cover it says that the level of the book is beginner-intermediate which is true,I also recommend buying this book to experienced 6.5 administrators to have an overview of what's new and what's changed. Worth the money you spend for it.
