Reviews (20)

Awesome book -- Great information
This being my first book about databases, I find that it explains the topic at hand very well, and concisely. While database design can be daunting of a task, the book guides the reader through it step by step, explaining exactly why something is like it is. The first chapters discuss the different models that were in use and what is becoming mainstream right now. Very easy to read, but some technological insight is suggested when starting this.

Great Book, unless you got the Interntional Edition!!
Great text book, but like all students I was looking for the cheapest price tag. I got the international edition for half the price, however, I discovered that it was missing pages, though the cover claims that it has the exact same content as US Edition. It is also missing a CD. The US Edition comes with 2 CD's including the SQL Server CD, which the international edition doesn't come with.
Best DB Design and DB Theory book on the market!!!!
This book is top notch...I've read many DB design books, but this one took the cake..When I took my database design class at my university, the professor was great, but the book was even BETTER!!!! I never knew about "normalizing data" until I saw this book and took the class!!! The theory, concepts, examples, and illustrations are 5-star quality!! I still use this book today, and its more than a year passed now, when I need to look up or refresh myself on a concept...Excellent learning tool, as well as a great reference for DB design....Only one problem, the book is "big" in size!!! Get it IF you can!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Information Management    6. Information Technology    7. Management Information Systems    8. Business information systems    9. Computers / Information Technology    10. Computing and Information Technology   

Reviews (115)

If you...
-don't know which program you will be using for SQL and have no knowledge of SQL commands, this book is directed at you and you should get it.
My first taste of SQL
This book is perfect for teaching yourself SQL. Perhaps that's why the title is "Teach Yourself SQL". I had never worked with SQL before and was recommended this book by a coworker. The chapters are divided into lessons and each lesson is fairly short, focusing on specific ideas and phrases.
Use this Book Often - it is a keeper
I work on the web 5 days a week for a living - and some code is only used now and then - this book is a great refresher for those little things you do not use often.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Database    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Database Management - SQL Server    6. Database management    7. Programming Languages - SQL    8. Relational Databases    9. SQL (Computer program language)    10. Sql (Programming Language)    11. Computers / Programming Languages / SQL    12. SQL   

Reviews (7)

THE BEST SQL ADMIN RESOURCE. PERIOD.
When I have a question about SQL Server this is the first book I turn to. It packs more into its 549 pages than books nearly twice its size, and it does this by focusing on what matters and by being clear and concise.
Careful
A pet peeve i have w/ Microsoft books is they just mirror the help files. This admin pocket guide is not much more than regurgitated help files. I was hoping for some useful examples, closer to real life problems & solutions. Not there. Plz use the help files in Books Online to look up topics THEN examine the same topic in this book at a local bookstore BEFORE buying it. (Based on good reviews, i bought this & the Administrator's Guide to SQL Server 2005 by Buck Woody)
THE ONE SQL SERVER BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE
I picked up Stanek's SQL Server 2005 Administrator's Pocket Consultant and Windows Server 2003 Inside Out at the same time, and have found them both to be excellent. If there's one SQL Server book every developer, programmer and administrator should have, it's this one--I haven't found a better one and I've read half a dozen so far. Stanek has a gift for getting to the point, explaining the most complex concepts in ways that are easy to understand. He seems to pack a 1,000 pages of info into 550 pages. SQL Server 2005 Administrator's Pocket Consultant has a strong focus on security, configuration, optimization, and troubleshooting. Throughout the book, there's excellent coverage of T-SQL and I prefer the way T-SQL is covered in context in this book to the way it's covered in the separate T-SQL book I bought (and no longer use). Beyond core database administration, which this book covers better than any other book, it also covers full-text search, indexes, integration services (creating packages), linked servers, distributed transactions, replication, publications, etc. The maintenance chapters are some of the strongest with complete coverage of profiling, monitoring, optimizing, backup, recovery, log shipping, database mirroring, automation, etc. Thank you Mr. Stanek for an excellent book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Client/server computing    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Communications / Networking    5. Computers - General Information    6. Database Management - SQL Server    7. General    8. Networking - General    9. Programming Languages - SQL    10. Relational databases    11. Sql (Programming Language)    12. Computers / General    13. Database software   

Reviews (1)

Great Way to Get Started
An excellent introduction to Microsoft SQL Server for the beginner. It starts with the basic concepts of what a database is and how it is used. It covers installation of SQL Server 2005 exhaustivly. It then the best description I've seen on the management tools that come with the database.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - SQL Server    5. Programming Languages - SQL    6. Sql (Programming Language)    7. Computers / General    8. Database software    9. SQL   

Reviews (7)

Excellent resource for Dev's only
Bob's book is written for the passionate Microsoft developer. DBA's and IT Pro's will find this book useful to have on the shelf, as there are number of features that touch the life of the Admin. Additionally, AW press has released another book, SQL Server 2005 Distilled, if you are looking for something less deep, I would try that book too.
A great book for Database Developers
This is a very good book for Database Developers. It covers most topics thoroughly. Some topics like SQLCLR and XQuery are covered too much in detail for my taste, but who knows one day I might need it! (there is a 17 page WSDL in chapter 12 .. I don't know who decided to put this in :-) Initially the minutiae kind of put me off, but over time I have started to like this book.

The New Testament
I feel cheated by the publishers of this book, because it was described as a "Bible" for SQL Server 2005: a "definitive hands-on guide" with "virtually every key concept" explained. It does not fit such a description, unless one's idea of a "Bible" can leave out Genesis, Exodus and the rest of the Old Testament.
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Subjects:  1. Client/server computing    2. Computer Books: Database    3. Computers    4. Computers - Data Base Management    5. Database Engineering    6. Database Management - General    7. Database Management - SQL Server    8. Programming Languages - SQL    9. Relational databases    10. Sql (Programming Language)    11. Computers / Database Management / General    12. SQL   

Reviews (7)

Excellent walk throughs
If you learn better through the combination of conceptual overview and detailed walk throughs you'll love Brian Larson's approach.
Great overview
I would agree with the other statements about this book covering many aspects of BI.Unlike other books that focus primarily on Analysis Services, this book covers everything from data source integration to custom reporting.I was even a bit surprised to see a section on artificial intelligence as it applies to data mining.Just as the others mentiond, if it covered every aspect of each of the pieces of BI, the book would be too big.I would have liked to see more focus on the key elements to BI rather than briefly touching them as it does everything else.

Save a tree
OK -- it's not terrible, but it reminds me of many books that start with "this is a field, this is a record, this is a table." It started fine - I learned the difference between star and snowflake schema, the benefits of a data mart, and the key feature of SQL 2005 Analysis Services that addresses the latency between OLTP and OLAP (it's a feature called Universal Data Model (UDM). All cool. The trouble begins in the subsequent chapters with the cutesy MaximumMinimum company and the painstaking, step-by-step "now you do it" approach. Which means you can only make use of the info if you're sitting in front of a computer. Not my cuppa. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business intelligence    2. Client/server computing    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Programming Languages - SQL    7. Computers / Programming Languages / SQL    8. Database software    9. SQL   

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming Languages - SQL    5. Computers / Programming Languages / SQL    6. Databases & software   

Reviews (6)

Great Stuff
The kit is really great and very helpful for those who is aspiring for Oracle 10g certification.I recommend one should have this.
It's a mistake to buy this book...
I found some answers are not related with the questions. Some typo error and mislead information.

OCP Oracle 10g Administration II Study Guide
I installed the OCA ebook software to read the OCA book and it succeeded. But then I installed the OCP ebook software and when I bring it up to read the book online, the Adobe Reader comes up, waits 60 seconds with a blank screen, and then crashes.
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Database    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Database Management - General    6. Reference - General    7. Computers / Technical Skills    8. Oracle   

Reviews (4)

A very good introductory book
This book is exactly what it says, a Beginner's book.Buy it if you are a real beginner but prefer something else even in case you are at the intermediate level.Now if you are a beginner with SQL Server this is a very good book.It is precise, with good examples and very explanatory.If I would have to point out potential future improvements, that would be using the AdventureWorks database for examples instead of the traditional Northwind.Also one more thing would be to explain more the new features of the SQL Server such as: Notification services, XQuery and Service Broker.

Outstanding Technical Book
I have never written a review about anything.I found this book so enlightening and so well written that I thought I owed it to the author to let others know how much I enjoyed the book.SQL Server 2005 has so many facets that it is hard to begin learning it own your own.This book has come to the rescue.It leads us through a lot of topics in a very logical progression.The examples are very well chosen and very easy to try out.(I actually typed in every single one of them myself--because that is how I learn.)What is incredible is how well the author keeps track of what he has already told us when he advances to a new topic.I am looking forward to the release of his new book "Professional SQL Server 2005 Programming."

Great SQL Server Book -- Balanced, Practical, Comprehensive
I purchased this book for 2 reasons. First, I'm in IT and my organization uses quite a few professionally created small/medium SQL Server databases. While I'm familiar with the essentials of SQL Server administration, I wanted to know more about the data side to help me think through problems that arise as well has to help me leverage the data by using it as a source for other applications and custom build databases. I also just started creating small ASP sites and want to use SQL Server 2005 as the back end.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Database Management - SQL Server    6. Programming - Software Development    7. Computer Programming    8. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Database Engineering    6. Database Management - General    7. General    8. Programming - Software Development    9. Software Design    10. Computers / General    11. Database software    12. SQL   

Reviews (6)

Loved it
This is THE book to get for Oracle Discoverer.What more can I say, it's well written, clear with good examples.

Complete, comprehensive coverage
Oracle Discoverer is a complex tool and much more than a single understanding of the functionality is required to use it effectively for business intelligence.
Outstanding Resource!
I am a neophyte to Discoverer, having just accepted a position where the primary assignment is to learn discoverer and develop a library.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming - General    5. Computers / Programming / General    6. Oracle   

Reviews (4)

Useful info and perspective of running Oracle's database on Linux
This is a well written book for anyone who wants to learn lots of useful Linux specific details and perspective about set up, administration, monitoring, and tuning Oracle 10g on Linux.
Very satisfied with the contents
If you read the editorial review: It is stated that the book is about installing and configuring Oracle Database 10g on Linux. Yes, the author did explain clearly the process of installing and configuring the Oracle 10g on Linux. He also covered a few more topics such as HA (High Availability), Tuning SQL, RAC, Replication, Index and Partitioning ... but not in depth. But the coverage is acceptable and useful. Do buy this book and you will find it useful if you love Oracle DBMS running on LINUX platform.
Good intro to Oracle 10g for Linux
As an experienced Oracle DBA, I wanted a nice text that covers Linux specifics to Oracle 10g. This book is okay not perfect but the only real Oracle 10g for Linux book on the market.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Database    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Database Management - Oracle    6. Linux    7. Operating Systems - Linux    8. Oracle (Computer file)    9. Relational Databases    10. Computers / Database Management / General    11. Oracle    12. Unix, Unix Linux & Unix TCL/TK   

Reviews (28)

Bye Bye Cache Hit Ratio
This is one of my favorite books. It gives easy to understand descriptions and examples. It is a must have for tuning. It is nicely organized and highly useful in a "crisis" situation.
OWI Gold Mine !!
An excellent read, I have to say that it exceeds my expectations. For those who are just getting exposed to the myths of OWI, a must read from cover to cover.
Amazing Oracle performance book !
I bought this book in order to improve my skills in performance tuning and I have to say that it exceeds my expectations. All Oracle events are described with their common causes and actions to take in order to reduce them... Great work... So a big thank for that book which will make every DBA a much better one !
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Database    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Computers / Database Management / General    6. Oracle   

Editorial Review

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Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (34)

Nice Pocket Reference For SQL
This is a nice, quick guide for referencing SQL.This book is not a 900 page behemoth to teach you all the ins and outs of SQL setup and performance tweaking, nor is it a 30 page list of commands.Rather, it is a nice "tweener" guide (200+ pages) to get your feet wet and remind you of what commands are and how SQL can be used.'SQL In A Nutshell' covers SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL, going over the SQL standards that you can expect from these favorite flavors of SQL.Light on examples but heavy on syntax, I feel that this is a nice companion manual to have at your side when you need to remind yourself how a particular command should be written.
Cross platform syntax reference
This is a solid desk reference for SQL syntax which provides invaluable material on the portability of each type of statement. The heart of the book is the four hundred pages of statement reference. Each statement is described with it's syntax and options. Then the support for each database (DB2, MySQL, Oracle, PostgresSQL, and SQL Server) is described in detail. There is a similar 120 page reference on SQL functions.
Maintaining several SQL implementations?
[A review of the 2nd edition, 2004.]
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Subjects:  1. Client/server computing    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Data Base Management    5. Database Management - SQL Server    6. Programming Languages - SQL    7. SQL (Computer program language)    8. Sql (Programming Language)    9. Computers / Data Base Management    10. Computers / Database Management / General    11. Computers / Programming Languages / SQL    12. Database software    13. SQL   

Reviews (12)

Best PL/SQL book I have ever read
I have attempted to learn pl/sql for a few years now and have been unable to find a book that pulls it all together. This book gently introduces you to a topic and then then shows you how to apply it. The comical nature of the author also makes the book interesting and fun. I believe its a must read for anyone attempting to learning pl/sql.

Excellent Book
I am using it in the context of a text book under one of the authors. My only complaint with the book is that some of the topics seems to be shallow in content (for example records in chapter 5). As a person just learning PL/SQL I rather like the fact that it covers many topics, and takes the time to show example after example with explanations. The organization seems to be fairly uniform. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn PL/SQL as it has helped me immensely. I have found the index to be rather lacking (hence the four stars).

A couple of bad chapters, but good for 1Z0-147
I bought this book hoping it would help me pass the 1Z0-147 Oracle PL/SQL certification test, and it did.First the bad news: chapters five and six are horrible.The person that wrote these two chapters writes in the most pedantic way possible.Pages upon pages are filled with highly repetitive code, with each example followed by a detailed analysis of every statement!Compare this to the coding examples in other chapters, where statements of interest are highlighted and then followed by descriptions of their significance.If you want a laugh, check out page 225, where the author of chapter six says, "A problem with programming books is that concepts need to be illustrated with an economy of space."Wow.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Database Management - Oracle    6. Database management    7. PL/SQL (Computer program language)    8. Programming - General    9. Programming Languages - SQL    10. Relational Databases    11. Sql (Programming Language)    12. Computers / Database Management / General    13. Oracle    14. SQL   

Reviews (26)

Big...but it reads like a novel!
Great book and easy to read! Author explain theory in basicterms and then, he give scripts or examples of how it should work or be written at TSQL level. Index's book it's almost perfect; for being a 1400 pages book it is not difficult to find any topic on it.You will find a lot of nice SQL 2000 tuning tips which add an extra value to the book itself. Could be used as a MCDBA prep. book and of course, in your job or if you're into Databases Admin. and Design business.
Fantastic book
I was suprised but the book is really good for both beginers as well as experts. I learned a lot from this book even thought I have been working with sql server for a long time.
The best there is...ok so now i think Sams is better than Wrox...lol
Well I needed a crash course in SQL server management and some T-SQL.I attacked this book head-on. The book is very comprehensive and i am very amazed. It really is a complete guide to the GUI on SQL server. If you want some hard core T-SQL guidance then get another book...in addition. Sams teach yourself t-sql in 21 days is great.
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Subjects:  1. Client/server computing    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Data Base Management    5. Database Management - General    6. Database management    7. Programming - General    8. Programming Languages - General    9. Programming Languages - SQL    10. Relational Databases    11. SQL server    12. Sql (Programming Language)    13. Computer Hardware & Operating Systems    14. Computers / Database Management / General   

Reviews (2)

Best PeopleSoft book for Oracle DBA who needs to learn PeopleSoft support
I have been an Oracle DBA for ten years and needed to ramp up very quickly recently for a large client to support their PeopleSoft environment without time to get training on PeopleSoft. This book fits the void left empty as the other PeopleSoft books are geared toward PeopleSoft application developers and not for an Oracle DBA who needs to understand the new ways of working with Oracle databases and PeopleSoft applications. Definitely a gold mine of nuggets for those who need to understand Peoplesoft on Oracle!!

Pragmatic, focused, detailed
This book is a deep in-depth view of the function of Peoplesoft on an Oracle database. Not only does it cover the fundamentals of how Peoplesoft uses the database features, it also details almost every table in the system on a row by row basis. An in-depth resource which is sure to be invaluable to anyone using this software configuration. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Database    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Database Management - Oracle    6. Programming - General    7. Computers / Programming / General    8. Oracle   

Reviews (17)

pretty poor book
very poorly laid out and confusing presaentation of both forms and reports.some fairly good detailed examples (if you can find them) but the overall presentation is chaotic.
Great for forms, not so much for reports
This is a solid reference book for those doing primarily Forms development, but it lacks quite a little in the Reports department.If you're buying it for Reports development, as I did, you'll be disappointed.I have yet to find a very good Reports reference.That said, this is probably the best one out there.The book contains something like 70% - 30% Forms info to Reports info (and that may be a little generous).It does have a few good examples and is an easy read.

Great Book
This book is a great tool for creating Visual Basic Applications ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Application software    2. Computer Bks - Data Base Management    3. Computer Books: Web Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Data Base Management    6. Database Management - General    7. Database Management - Oracle    8. Development    9. Microcomputer Application Software    10. Oracle (Computer file)    11. Relational Databases    12. Spreadsheets - General    13. Computers / Database Management / General    14. Oracle    15. Software engineering   

Reviews (20)

Another brilliant book by Jonathan Lewis
This is the book that one definitely needs to read (and understand) in order to get an idea what the CBO is all about.
Excellent Book!Recommended!
I bought the book "Cost-Based Oracle Fundamentals" and I found it extremely helpful and I've been recommending to other people - both DBA's and SQL writers.I've been pretty good at tuning problem SQL in the past mostly by knowing (or learning) the data and forcing the best plan using hints.But the row estimates/cost figures that the optimizer comes up with have always been a mystery to me.This book explains a lot of what I have been seeing.(The answer is 5%!)
How much of it is useful ???
I took two days and went through the book. Sounds more like
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Database    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Database Management - Oracle    6. Database management    7. Relational databases    8. Oracle   

Reviews (12)

Limited coverage yet very handy
Sack's book is of unusually high quality for its publisher, Apress, in providing plainspoken and consistently organized descriptions of its topic. Despite limited coverage of SQL Server 2005, it has proven very handy. As of summer, 2006, it really has no competition in providing practical advice about using SQL Server 2005 other than the Books Online documents from Microsoft.
Easy to read, relevant and thorough
I'm an original fan of a previous book written by Joe and afterwards began a dialogue with him that I'm happy to say has continued, in part, due to the ability of me as a reader to get three important things from any book - READ it ALL, it's RELEVANT to what I am looking for and can be practically implemented in the real world, and finally its thorough enough that it doesn't leave you wondering why you just learned something...Thanks Joe for previous books and this one.I wish you continued success.
Essential Guide For SQL Server 2005 Admins/Developers
SQL Server 2005 T-SQL Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach by Joseph Sack is a fantastic reference for all DB admins or anyone that uses SQL Server 2005 on a daily basis.Chock full of tasty recipes that anyone will find useful, this is one of the best Apress books I have had the pleasure to read and I do mean pleasure.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Database    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Database Management - SQL Server    6. Programming Languages - SQL