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5 comments about DB2(R) Universal Database V8.1 Certification Exams 701 and 706 Study Guide (IBM Press Series--Information Management).

1. If you are serious in moving through the DB2 certifications, you will find the book to be a helpful addition to your library. I certainly wish I had this reference when I was studying for the certification exams.

   The book opens with a detailed roadmap on DB2 certification that explains the various tracks. It also has a good explanation of how to register for tests and how the tests work. Understanding how the tests work can save you valuable time on test day.

   The book is arranged around the test sections, which seems like a good way to study for the tests. A certification study guide could easily be dry, but Roger's good use of white space, pictures and diagrams help keep the book easy to read. The questions in the book seem so close to the real thing, that you may think you are taking the exam.




2. In the world of large commercial databases, there are really only two choices: IBM's dB2 and Oracle. While MySQL and Postgres are increasingly try to break up this cosy duopoly, they are still small players. So as a professional DBA, or an aspiring one, dB2 is a good choice. Given this, IBM provides several levels of certification. Sanders here supplies the official study guide for the 701 and 706 exams.

   Thumbing through this book, you see lots of SQL commands. But a lot of the SQL appears to be syntax specific to managing dB2. A dB2 programmer/user can largely deal with generic SQL. But for you, that's not enough. The value of this book is heavily in the specifics of dB2 and how to optimise its performance.

   The questions and answers in each chapter are at least as important as the text. If you are at all serious, you MUST tackle these. Otherwise, you've just discarded half the value of the book. Of course, the actual questions in the exams will differ. But by being able to do the book's problems, it forces you to clarify your understanding.

   My own SQL background is mostly with MySQL. So most of this book is new to me. I tried a couple of chapters and their problem sets. Not bad. The problems are not trivial. But the volume of material in each chapter is succinct enough to be doable in a few hours.




3. This is one of the latest in a series of study guides that Sanders has put together for various dB2 certifications. As with his earlier books, a lot of its value is in the focus on what you need to know to pass an exam, in this case, the 703 exam. You will find an extensive question set at the end of each chapter, with answers later in the book. These question sets are indispensible for testing your knowledge understanding.

   But there is a second potential use of this book. It lets you concisely see various technical abilities of dB2. Useful if you are considering using dB2 or one of its competitors, like Oracle or Postgres or MySQL. For example, MySQL's most persuasive argument is that it is free. But it has limitations. No stored procedures [yet]. By contrast, Sanders describes these in dB2 in various chapters, and how they can reduce bandwidth in a client-server application, to cite only one instance.

   Another example of using this book to compare dB2 and MySQL might be the book's discussion of using foreign key constraints in dB2. Whereas currently in MySQL, foreign keys are not permitted. (Except in a very limited sense.)

   So with a little imagination, you can use this book as part of a competitive analysis of dB2. Perhaps not what Sanders or IBM fully intended. But the flexibility is useful.




4. I am pretty sure even exam 706 (of which I did not review the objectives) will not ask for ALL the parameters for the dbm? It's unweidy to paste a total of 12 pages on the dbm cfg parameters.
   
   Was it necessary or to thicken the book?
   
   It's a certification book - please focus on the certification objectives ONLY.



5. If you studying for the Family Application Development Exam (703) certification exam, you will find the book to be quite helpful. I wish I had this book when I was studying 703 certification exam.
   
   Many of us concentrate on only one or two of the methods of communicating with DB2 in our programs. The book does a good job of explaining embedded SQL programming, CLI/ODBC programming and Java programming. It is difficult to remember all the information about all of these and the book gives a great review of the programming methods.
   
   The book opens with a detailed roadmap on DB2 certification that explains the various tracks. It also has a good explanation of how to register for tests and how the tests work. Understanding how the tests work can save you valuable time on test day.
   
   Like Roger's other certification books, this one is arranged around the test sections, which seems like a good way to study for the tests. Roger likes to white space, pictures and diagrams to improve the readability of his books and this book follows that pattern. Each chapter closes with a section of practice questions, which have very informative answers that follow.

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