MySQL, Second Edition
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Spotlight Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 4.66Customer Rating: 5
Summary: Bravo, Paul!
Comment: First I got started with the mysql through the online documentation avilable at mysql's website, which is written and being maintained by Paul Dubois.
After that I decided to buy the book, and I was very satisfied with my decision. Below I am listing several evaluative criterias that indeed make the book ( and the author, as well) the best choice available thus far:
1) Great for beginners: To understand how to keep a grade book, you don't need huge brains(I hope so). That's exactly what Paul starts his book with, and makes his way through to some RDBMS terminologies that you won't even notice.
2) From the simplest to more advanced... Such books make the learning for beginniners piece of cake, and for experienced ones a lof of fun. The book's focus is on couple of tables that you build in the first chapter, and keep manipulating throughout the book. Paul never forgets about those tables. Even in the Second section of the book (Using MySQL Programming Interfaces), he teaches you to write applications using C, Perl and PHP to manipulate them. Since you build them all together with Paul, you have more understanding of what you're doing. Of course, by the end of the book it gets advanced, which makes it the right choise for advanced programmers as well.
3) Great references Oh yes. Awesome appendixes. Listings of all the functions, keywords, syntaxes are available (in alphabetical order). Also seperate appendixes for Perl DBI API, C API and PHP API makes it even more useful
4) Easy language. This is deginitely important. Even though the books are in english, not all of them gurantee you comprehension. Sometimes you might find the lingo of the book of too high a level, or even vice versa. None of those are the cases with the MySQL book. Paul uses plain english and switches to RDBMS lingo whenever he thinks it is appropriate.
5) The book is definitely from an expert. You better don't doubt it! Since Paul is the one in charge of the official documentation, who else could tell you more about the subject?
6) Still got the gap? Let him fill it... Another thing that pleased was the fact, unlike other aUtHoRs, it is not hard to get hold of Paul in mysql mailing list. He is kind enough to answer the questions, and/or contribute to the discussions about the subject.
If you are interested with learning MySql, I want you to buy the book, because there're no other books better than this one so far. Also, support for such authors is important.
Customer Rating: 5
Summary: Extremely good, even if you only read the first section.
Comment: Paul DuBois does an excellent job of providing a thorough introduction to MySQL. This is one of two technical books that I have been truly satisfied with, the other being Friedl's _Mastering Regular Expressions_. If you have a limited budget (or limited time to read) and are using MySQL in web development, buy this book.
I was somewhat hesitant to purchase a text on MySQL. Having seven years experience using databases for GIS analysis, I thought that I had a good fundamental understanding of database design. Reading the first section of _MySQL_ made me realise how much I had been missing. The text is liberally interspersed with examples of SQL that were very valuble in pointing out language concepts that I had missed. However, the thing that I found the most appealing about this book was the author's writing style. DuBois balances the extremely technical subject matter with a commentary that makes you want to keep reading. This is something that is sorely missing in most technical writing; I felt like I was reading a good novel.
The features that I found to be most useful in this text were the sections on query optimisation and complex joins. As someone with little formal education in database design, I had always been a little afraid of these concepts. DuBois has helped me conquor my fear and raise these considerations to the forefront of my consciousness when building new applications. I also use the extensive references included in the book as part of my day-to-day work. They are well organised, well written, and are easily accessed by way of a comprehensive index.
I have to admit that I have not read the middle third of the book. To most this would seem a waste, but I have no interest in system administration, and already have a good grasp of how to interface programs with databases. If I ever have time to come back and read the other sections I will. Until then I will rest easy in the assurance that the knowledge I have gained from this book already is worth far more than the price I paid for it.
Customer Rating: 4
Summary: Great MySql book
Comment: I give it 4 stars due to lack of info on the Java APIs. This is the best mySql book on out there!! I have a couple of others and sometimes they conflict. The other books don't tell the whole story like how different table types impact certain features - this book does and it always seems to be right. Buy this one and leave the others behind.