IT programming books related reviews
Product: Book Paperback
Title: SQL Performance Tuning
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Peter Gulutzan, Trudy Pelzer
Rating: 5/5
Title: SQL Performance Tuning
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Authors: Peter Gulutzan, Trudy Pelzer
Rating: 5/5
I've just finished chapter 7 and 15. The book offers quite interesting information. It's written very well and easy to understand. Plus a special sense of humor ;-)
The information gathered must not be used immediately, but helps when making decisions on database design and usage. This is because, you gain an overview on what the "big eight" do, thus you better understand what your decision could mean, when switching databases.
It's a book suitable for both experts and beginners, though basic sql knowledge is expected.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: MySQL/PHP Database Applications
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Jay Greenspan, Brad Bulger
Rating: 1/5
Title: MySQL/PHP Database Applications
Publisher: Wiley
Authors: Jay Greenspan, Brad Bulger
Rating: 1/5
I bought this book with the intention of learning PHP. I went into it with a some knowledge of programming, no knowledge of SQL, and a strong background in logic.I very quickly discovered that, rather than a learning guide, what I purchased was the source code for several applications with vague descriptions of how data was being handled.In fairness, I do find what i am looking for about 10% of the time. The other 90% I am either checking the web for source, discussions, or tutorals, or I am using the PHP manual and playing hit and miss.It is my experience that anything this book can offer is freely available from the Web. And that the Web offerings are usually better documented.If you are a beginner, look elsewhere. This book will likely leave you dumbfounded.
If you are experienced, look elsewhere. This book will likely bore you to tears.
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days (4th Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ron Plew, Ryan Stephens
Rating: 2/5
Title: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days (4th Edition)
Publisher: Sams
Authors: Ron Plew, Ryan Stephens
Rating: 2/5
This book is well planned and presented, but the error checking is almost nonexistent. The book is riddled with bugs, misspellings (in tables, data, and such) and confusing mistakes. Online or offline (disk or CD) support is nonexistent and the user is forced to enter all data from an appendix in the back by hand.In one almost humorous example of this negligence, the appendix has you create a table called "parts" and populate it with human body part descriptions such as, "Kidney", "Adam's Apple", "Spine", and such. On day six, there is an example of a bike shop that combines the human parts table with a bike shop supplier's customer list. The resulting database is interesting to say the least.I would strongly recommend against trying this book at all if you are not using Oracle. It claims to teach all brands of SQL, but only truly concentrates on Oracle's SQL+. The differences in other implementations are covered with phrases such as, "The preceding syntax will generally work with any SQL engine, but you may find some slight variations."If you're still new to the world of data in general, then pass on this book and search another. If you have experience programming, and can usually debug logic errors and spelling mistakes, then this book is otherwise a helpful tutorial. The text descriptions and comments are written on a personal level and are clear and concise. The lessons flow in a smooth logical fashion and the bonus days really are a nice bonus. Just be ready for a little frustration along the way.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: Advanced ANSI SQL Data Modeling and Structure Processing
Publisher: Artech House Publishers
Authors: Michael M. David
Rating: 4/5
Title: Advanced ANSI SQL Data Modeling and Structure Processing
Publisher: Artech House Publishers
Authors: Michael M. David
Rating: 4/5
Ever since i read this book first in a library in Atlanta, I coudlnt hold myself but buy this book immediately the following week.Excellent description on data modelling, and has clear diagrams that are easy to understand.a must have for all serious sql data modelling guys and programmers..
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: Oracle SQL: 101 Frequently Asked Questions
Publisher: Komenda Pub. Co.
Authors: Gary M. Lewis, Alex Sirota
Rating: 5/5
Title: Oracle SQL: 101 Frequently Asked Questions
Publisher: Komenda Pub. Co.
Authors: Gary M. Lewis, Alex Sirota
Rating: 5/5
This is the most used book in our IT department. Even experienced SQL programmers have found some tricks that were useful.This is not a SQL tutorial or reference. It is a list of frequently ask questions about Oracle SQL and one or more solutions to the same. All of the topics are logically grouped and clearly written. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who writes SQL code more than occaisionally.
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
Overall this is a fine, if physically weighty, introduction to PHP. It will take a developer who understands web application flow reasonably well from knowing nothing about PHP to understanding how to build complex web sites.The first 150 pages or so are on the syntax of PHP. The last 20 of those are on Object Oriented PHP (version 4), and about 10 of those are on the basics of OO programming. So I wouldn't try and learn OO PHP from this book (see Advanced PHP Programming for that.)Section two, on database programming, starts with an introduction to the basics of database design, moves onto the mechanics of MySQL and it's interaction with PHP. It finishes with a very brief section on PEAR. This is the part that caused me to give the book only three stars. First, the database access uses string concatenation, which is error prone and insecure. Even worse, the section on PEAR, which supports the '?' operator in SQL statements, fails to mention that feature or it's advantages. Since most PHP programming is about putting a face on a database, teaching how to do databases the right way is extremely important. For a lesson in how to do database access in PHP right see another SAMS PHP book; Advanced PHP Programming.Up to chapter twenty-four the book progresses by talking about each technology (e.g. authentication, date manipulation, regular expressions, etc.) as a sort of stove pipe. The chapters are generally short, and are well written and consistent. Graphics are used sparingly, which is appreciated.With chapter twenty-four and beyond the author presents common tasks (e.g. login pages, shopping carts, etc.) with example applications. This is an effective technique as most of these problems involve bringing together several PHP technologies and understanding how to use them as a whole.Overall I liked this book. I did take exception to the SQL problems in section two and I marked my review down because database access is so important to PHP web development. WIth the caveat that the reader should look elsewhere for advice on proper PHP database development I would recommend this book to anyone with some web experience who wants to develop dynamic sites with PHP.
Product: Book Hardcover
Title: MCSD: SQL Server 6.5 Database Design Study Guide
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Kevin Hough
Rating: 2/5
Title: MCSD: SQL Server 6.5 Database Design Study Guide
Publisher: Sybex Inc
Authors: Kevin Hough
Rating: 2/5
I have already picked through Ken Hough's other book (VB Developer) so I was excited about this one. I haven't been disappointed. I installed SQL Server and have been working through the chapters. END
Product: Book
Title: Getting The Search Engine Ranking Your Website Deserves: : META Tags Yield To Google's PageRank As Search Engine Standard
Publisher:
Authors: John Henderson
Rating: 5/5
Title: Getting The Search Engine Ranking Your Website Deserves: : META Tags Yield To Google's PageRank As Search Engine Standard
Publisher:
Authors: John Henderson
Rating: 5/5
The concept of the author's article is excellent. I have discussed the idea of "page ranking" versus "site ranking" with fellow memebers at work and the process is right. There appears to be no way to trick or fool search engines. You can buy pay-per-click ranking (That's expensive.) or work to make your pages worth something to the search engines. I'd advise every webmaster to re-set their thinking. Concentrate on page ranking!
Product: Book Paperback
Title: Transact-SQL Cookbook (O'Reilly Windows)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ales Spetic, Jonathan Gennick
Rating: 5/5
Title: Transact-SQL Cookbook (O'Reilly Windows)
Publisher: O'Reilly
Authors: Ales Spetic, Jonathan Gennick
Rating: 5/5
This is a very concise and to-the-point book. It assumes that the user has a basic understanding of T-SQL. So, you won't see any repetition from SQL Server Books Online. Authors chose very interesting topics, and backed them up with real life scenarios and practical examples. So, every example makes sense. Book is very easy to read and understand. If you are a beginner T-SQL programmer (or someone coming from a VB or other programming backgrounds), this book helps you get on the right track, as it clearly explains how to think in terms of sets. If you are an intermediate level SQL programmer, you can really use the examples provided in this book and start your journey towards becoming an advanced SQL programmer. For advanced users of SQL, this serves as a great reference.
