5 comments about The Definitive Guide to MySQL 5, Third Edition (Definitive Guide).

1. This book is great for anyone getting started with MySQL. The book does an excellent job of helping the reader learn MySQL on both Windows and Linux systems, with most examples being run in tandem across both platforms. The books review of MySQL administration tools and clients is very in depth, and probably the best single-source coverage I have seen on the topic.
   
   The chapter on integrating MySQL with OpenOffice and MS Office is unique to this book, as far as I know and I think several readers will get their money's worth simply from that. Using MySQL as a productivity tool instead of a programming tool changes the approach for several MySQL users.
   
   The fundamentals section of the book, which includes DB design, security and some of the newer features of MySQL (stored procedures and triggers) is a very nice overview, even for seasoned MySQL users. The administration chapter is probably my favorite, as I am a System Admin. This chapter provides examples and instructions about backups, migrations, performance tuning and replication.
   
   
   The final section on programming was a nice introduction to programming with/against MySQL, but was brief for nearly all topics, but understandably so. There are dozens of books on PHP and MySQL alone, so a few chapters on PHP, Perl, Java and VB are good introductions, but other material should be sought after for an in-depth project.
   
   All in all the book is very thorough, and makes an excellent addition to Apress's Open Source line of books.



2. This is bar-none the best MySQL (all-inclusive) book I've ever used. I've been using MySQL for about 5-6 years (maybe longer I've lost count). In projects from Personal stuff to Commercial and Corporate sites. I feel like I know a lot about MySQL simply by using and Admin'ing it for most of this time. I've learned a great deal from "The Definitive Guide to MySQL 5" and am making immediate use of several things that have made significant improvements to the current project I'm working on...and has given me ideas as to how to improve on a few sites I didn't think I could improve much on.
   
   I would recommend this book for ANYONE interested in MySQL 5. It's well organized, and provides enough information to use virtually anything related to MySQL 5.
   
   Thanks to Michael Kofler for such a well written and organized book!
   
   The only things I would have preferred just a tad more detail on is the use of Cursors in Stored Procedures. Aside from that this is an EXCELLENT resource I highly recommend.



3. This book is indeed a valuable resource for those who wish to have a deep understanding and interoperations of MySQL. However, by no means believe this book is for a MySQL beginner. I am college educated and frequently self-teach on many topics within the technical field. I bought this book with the hopes of getting a foundational understanding of MySQL and have a database up and running in the first few chapters. The first chapter does carefully explain what a relational database is, its features, and limitations, but then gets lost into the murky realm of administrative tools, user interfaces, and database design. The book finally gets around to giving the reader the first command to creating a database on page 268 (chapter 11). By this point the author gives the impression that getting a database started just a formality rather than the start of something fun and exciting. (Am I crazy for thinking databases are fun?)
   
   In general, I found this book a hard read. It's very dry and in my opinion, not well laid out. This book is for someone who already has foundational knowledge in MySQL and some programming. The author seems to have a thorough understanding of the topic, but is not good at teaching to underlings such as myself. I'm not going to toss the book, but keep it on my shelf as a reference. In the mean time I need to find another book on MySQL.



4. 'The Definitive Guide to MySQL 5' by Michael Kofler is in its 3rd Edition for the simple reason that this is a GOOD reference book. Jam packed full of nearly 750 pages worth of excellence, this book isn't just a reference manual, but a learning TOOL as well. The glowing reviews for this book are not without a legit reason, this is a wonderful guide that belongs on the desk of any and all MySQL developers. Pick up this book to learn and excel... you won't be disappointed!!
   
   ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



5. The book opens with an introductory database example (Chap 3), an opinion poll. The author spends nearly a page in his attempt to justify why MySQL is more suited to his example than a text file. This justification is not only uneccessary but outright wrong. The sample SQL also contains a glaring error that is likely to confuse the newer MySQL user
   
   "In order to generate a table with the two columns /id/ and /choice/, the following command would suffice: CREATE TABLE votelanguage (id INT, choice TINYINT, ts TIMESTAMP);". If you are new to MySQL, you may be wondering about "ts TIMESTAMP".
   
   At every page I have turned to and begun to read, I have found at least one similarly minor/distracting error: "changes in boldface" followed by lines of code with no boldface, "the following will insert a data record with a value of 4: INSERT into t VALUES (3)", etc, etc, etc...
   
   There are numerous sections of text that are terribly written, almost as though they have been badly translated from another language. Chapter 4, for instance, opens with "The end user should never see MySQL as a program. Instead, a convenient program or several web sites should be used to provide access to the database, assist in the input of new data and execute backups
   "For such tasks, you can use the commands mysql, mysqladmin and mysqldump ...". Presumably he mean't that these commands are not the interface through which the typical user will see MySQL.
   
   I said the book is not definitive - I say this because its focus is incredibly broad. It covers a wide spectrum of MySQL-related topics, primarily dealing with specifics of language interfaces (by sheer volume of pages). It covers nothing in true depth (with several item specific chapters containing the "Tip" that "In this chapter you will learn about /this/ only superficially. However, ... will be described elsewhere in the book ..."
   
   Every time I open this book, I find errors or cryptic paragraphs that I have to deconstruct in order to understand the author's point. Often times, even when the author is quite clear, I find his points to be in error. For example, returning to the initial opinion poll: the author implies that if your result set were merely the vote option and number of votes for that option, it would be simplest to just store that in a single file. But if you wanted to store individual votes or comments or IP addresses, you would need MySQL!
   
   Infact, due to concurrency issues, MySQL would be far better suited to the simple tally counter.

5 comments about Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8.

1. This is a good book. It teaches many useful techniques and how lots of "how to" ideas. However, the faux site that is created isn't goal oriented which left me feeling like the book was just a collection of random things to do. It seemed disorganized at times when you would or wouldn't create another page from scratch vs. revamping one you had already made. It was not always clear why you would be better to take one approach vs. the other. Setting up the localhost environment was somewhat confusing, though not too bad.
   
   I will definitely use it frequently. Good information, good book, good deal.



2. This man makes a promise of a written format that can be followed. The writtng is NOT CLEAR and leaves much to the readers imagination of to what exactly the format should be. There is no CD so that you can see how the step by step process works. He names his files but does not show the real differences between how he is set up and how you can set up to fit your needs. I waisted my money. He claims in the book there is support which at best is terrible.
   
   The worst book I have ever bought on coding. If I were you try another writter.



3. This is a very good book for learning PHP, and surprisingly, most of the examples work right out of the book as he's written them, which seems rare for a programming book these days. The projects that he has you complete are highly relevant to what you'd actually be doing with PHP, and that makes it even better.
   
   The only trouble I had with this book was that he sure packed a lot of information into each chapter, and he didn't use the sidebars as much as I would have hoped. It's easy enough to follow along with the examples the first time, but if you want to go back again and figure out how he programmed a small detail, you'll never find it unless you reread the whole chapter again. All it would have taken was a few little bullets here and there in the margins to point out some of the off-topic stuff that was going on in the examples, and the book would be much more functional as a reference. As it stands, I probably will have to get a whole new book for that purpose.
   
   Also, the support on this book is phenomenal. I missed a small detail in Chapter 6 that caused my script to fail, and when I posted on the book's message board, I had a reply from the author in less than a day. That's a really cool added bonus.



4. I am a frontpage user that has set up static pages in a web site. I needed to move from static pages to dynamic pages using a database. I couldn't use PHP with FrontPage so I switched to Dreamweaver and needed a book that covered both dynamic pages and Dreamwaver. This book walked me through setting up the environment to have Dreamweaver work with Apache, PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin. I am completely non-technical so these areas were beyond my comfort zone but the book walked me through it very successfully. It then took me through CSS styles, setting up an online feedback form, setting up my first database and tying it into Dreamweaver. It also showed how to insert, delete and maintain records in order to keep the database up to date. This was an excellent book for a non-techie as it didn't take any knowledge for granted.



5. This book is written very clearly and is really easy to follow. I've learned a lot of other really useful stuff than just the PHP content, things that I now realise I should have been taught by the official Dreamweaver 8 book, but weren't. The PHP content for which I bought this book is fantastic - much better than another generic PHP/MySQL I have read, as this is tailored to the Dreamweaver 8 environment which takes a lot of the guessing out of the equation. This book is written by and for people who use Dreamweaver 8 in a practical situation. I'm still less than half way through my book and already feel like I've learned much more than I expected. Highly recommended. I'll be checking out Mr Powers' other books when I finish this one. Thanks David Powers, you're a genius!

5 comments about PHP & MySQL Everyday Apps For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)).

1. This book is challenging and informative. Some basic knowledge of PHP MySQL is required before beginning this book.



2. I downloaded it, but not could not find the accompanying cd. can anyone post a link to it!



3. if you need a first impression, just found out that computers exist, if you think PHP stands for a new boygroup, then this is the book for you.



4. This is a very good book to get practical skills in PHP development with MySQL appliances.But before buying it, it is important to understand that this book is not for beginers, this book assumes that the reader have a least basic knowledge of both tools.



5. The applications on the CD are not "working and ready for you to install." Not at all.
   
   In fact, if you do exactly what the book says, your apps WILL NOT work. Why? Because the code is wrong. Not only are there errors in the database instructions, but the PHP and inc files have numerous errors.
   
   Even after downloading the "corrected files" and following the new instructions for the database found on the author's website, some functionality is simply broken. The CMS kinda-sorta works, but not really because there is no file upload form as you see displayed in the book. Just not there. Obviously the result of some error in the file include, but you'd have to be a php expert to figure it out. Without being able to add or delete records from a database, well, a CMS is pretty useless, isn't it? Yes it is.
   
   The most important applications on the CD (shopping cart and content management system) are rife with errors. This cripples them to such a degree that they are worthless as is. And corrected. And especially if you are a "dummy."

5 comments about PHP in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)).

1. Doesn't waste my time with how to run an editor and doesn't assume I know too much, either. The examples are concise.
   
   This book works well as a handbook and as a text. Highly recommended!



2. A decent broad coverage of many PHP basics but I didn't really learn much more than I had found on my own by randomly poking around in the online PHP manual every time I needed a function to get a job done. I was hoping that reading a book like this from cover to cover would expose some parts of PHP I missed or teach some techniques and best practice that I didn't figure out myself. Unfortunately it did not.
   
   For someone who known no PHP at all (and no C) I would give that a 4 star rating. But every PHP programmer has access to great free online PHP manual so I think this book has less value. And anyone who knows C can start programming PHP right away without reading much of anything. I assume the average programmer knows some C or Java and can read the online PHP manual. For those people, this book is no better than 3.



3. I bought this book after studying PHP with the author's online tutorials. They covered quite a bit of what was in the book but I enjoyed the online version so much, I decided to thank him for putting a free online version out on the net by buying his book. In addition, I like to have the hard copy for a reference. Excellently written and one of the clearest and easiest programming books I've every read. It is also one of the few programming books I have read without any programming errors in it.



4. I am pretty familiar with PHP and worked with it some time ago, but I needed a book to quickly refresh my knowledge of it for a project, and this book did a pretty good job of that. It gets to the point on the right topics (including chapters on OOP, Cookies and Sessions, and Databases) and has a short, useful function reference instead of listing every function under the sun.
   
   Nonetheless, there are many errors both in the code and in the writing. If you don't have a solid foundation in PHP and programming, these errors can really throw you off. Sometimes I would get confused as I tried to figure out why a line of code does what the author says it does only to realize it was an error that made it into print. If the editing had been better and caught these errors, the book would have received a four-star rating from me.
   
   Bottom line, if you know PHP and need a good reference book or a book to quickly review concepts and functions, this book is for you. Don't buy this book if you are new to PHP.



5. The O'Reilly "in a Nuthsell" series is the best reference to standard libraries and language features available. PHP in a Nutshell sullies the name, however, with what amounts to an introductory survey in the course and little, if any, analysis of standard libraries. Certain tips, such as those on flash and pdf handling are interesting, but irrelevant to most programmers. This goes doubly for the discussion of PHP's 2D drawing API; it seems as though the authors decided they would provide a schizophrenic volume which is on the one hand a beginner's tutorial and on the other hand a survey of the more esoteric, unused portions of the language.

5 comments about Learning PHP & MySQL: Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Database-Driven Web Sites.

1. Michele E. Davis and John A. Phillips may have had the best intentions when they set out to write a "Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic, Database-Driven Web Sites" for the beginner to intermediate user, but the wheels fall off pretty early on in the undertaking.
   
   I'm no PHP expert (and I really don't want to be), but I do know a thing or two about MySQL, and I've tinkered around enough with my own blogging software to understand the reasoning behind developing a dynamic web application. I tend to judge an author's ability to explain new concepts to me by how well they explain what I already know. To that end, "Learning PHP & MySQL" thundered so quickly and clumsily through it's rudimentary explanation of server-side application theory (one typo, two flagrant contradictions in one paragraph, and a smattering of poorly-executed visuals), that I have to wonder what care Davis & Phillips devote to the rest of their project.
   
   The answer was pretty clear by the time I skimmed past the "How to install Apache, PHP, and MySQL" explanation and landed smack in a very dry, code-littered treatise on PHP variables and strings, conditionals, and arrays. So much for the foreplay.
   
   Like 99% of the free information available in the open source community (and every other O'Reilly reference I've ever purchased -you think I would have learned my lesson by now), this book is poorly organized, shoddily edited, sparse, and mind-numbingly arcane.



2. It is not quite clear to me how any technical editor, let alone from a publisher specializing in technology books, could pass this text as is. It is quite obvious that the authors may know their way around developing simple database-driven web sites but completely miss basic programming topics (OOP, constructors, static variables etc. - all are explained in confusing and, at times, incorrect language).
   
   Add to that grammatical errors, and perhaps a reminder that "kraut" is a derogatory term better left out of a mainstream publication, and it's quite baffling how this book made it to print in its current form.
   
   I haven't seen other publications on the topic to compare against but this one certainly was a disappointment.



3. While this is a typical O'Reilly book (marvelously and expertly written), there weren't many examples of utilizing what you just learned such that it would sink in. It also pre-supposed a bit (not much mind you) of programming experience/knowledge of which I have none. The description is a bit mis-leading that way as it states that if you know HTML and are ready for the next step this is the book. It should say, if you know HTML, a bit of C, or PERL, and some SQL you will benefit from learning PHP & MySQL. Not disappointed, just not the book for me...



4. I have not bought a textbook in over five years. Back then, O'Reilly was a reputable brand. So when I needed to learn PHP and MySQL, I bought this book without doing any research. I will never blindly buy an O'Reilly book again.
   
   I got to page 11 before finding my first typo. After that, I lost track of all the typos and coding mistakes I've seen. Mind you, this is the 2nd edition of this book. Clearly, the authors did not proofread their book, nor did anyone else at O'Reilly, nor did anyone who read the 1st edition (?). I have learned to not trust anything in this book and instead use google for my php/mysql questions. Also, the mistakes are not all obvious typos -- some are mistakes in reasoning, which I can catch because I have extensive experience with computers.



5. Maybe a genius or someone who already understands PHP basics will benefit from this book. I have made great progress with a number of instructional books, but got stuck in Chapter three of this one. It seems that important terms and concepts are not explained, not explained well, or explained in pages after the terms and concepts are first used.
   I'm going to search for another book on PHP & MySQL.

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One (4th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. This is good for those who have incredible amounts of patience and like solving problems. The setup alone took at least three hours and a lot of searching on Google. Many important steps are left out (such as how to add and use a database from the MySQL command line, how to configure PHP to support mysqli, and how to configure Apache properly to support PHP.) The PHP functions used in this book are the mysqli_* family and require special setup in the php.ini file. There are no instructions however to set this up. Without this you can't write any SQL programs.
   
   There are also numerous typos in the code. It's obvious that none of the code in this book is actually tested to see if it works. There are simple things such as variable name inconsistencies and function typos that throw off the whole script. When you're new to a progamming language these aren't easy to spot.
   
   Overall, however, there is still plenty you can take from this book. If you have the patience the problem solving will probably cement the concepts more solidly in your brain because you will be figuring them out for yourself.



2. I am stuck on chapters three and four and can not continue with this book. I could not get Apache to work with PHP. In the "Troubleshooting" section of the book on page 58 the solution to getting Apache to work is this: To solve this problem, you need to stop the running server or change the Apache configuration to listen on a different port. Well, if you know how to do this, buy the book. If you don't, you are forever suck and can't continue with the rest of the book. I tried to change the ports and address as suggested in the book, but it didn't work. Be sure to read "Who Should Read This Book" in the introduction section of the book. I probably don't have the required experience to work the material in this book.



3. Like some others who left reviews, I'm a complete beginner to coding, php, mysql, and apache. Given that, I found the installation utterly confusing and spent three days unable to get past chapter 4 where the real content is. A tip for others like me, skip the manual installation. The author cautions about using pre-configured instances of the software, but I found WAMP5 to be a life saver. It's pre-configured and comes in an MSI file. However, as much as I hate to admit it, the struggles I faced in trying to follow the instructions did teach me a lot about the basic configuration, even if that wasn't the author's intent. Since then, I've found the content to be good and am gaining a fundamental understanding of the tools. I know this won't be the end-all php, apache, mysql bible, but it's a good place to start.



4. "PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One" is a good way to begin learning those technologies. It is simple enough and has lots of visual examples, code examples, tables, figures, etc to break down bigger concepts into manageable ones. Also, its an easy read. I normally don't rate anything perfectly, but I couldn't think of any reason why I wouldn't give it 5 stars. I must add though that I may be biased since I wasn't a beginner to PHP or MySQL and used this textbook for a grad course.



5. This is a solid book if your looking for information on the relationship between Apache, MySQL, and PHP. This is not a beginner's book, nor is it advanced. Rather its purpose is to explain how these three components work together, the combination of which is if not the most popular then close to the most popular basic framework used on the web. For example, all Wordpress blogs are based on the PHP, MySQL, and Apache setup. Plus, all three are free and can be easily setup on your own computer for development purposes.
   
   If you're looking for a singular focus on one or two of the three, then you'll be disappointed. If you do not have any or very little experience with the web, then go buy a "for dummies" or an explicitly labeled "Beginners" book.
   
   If you want to gain a solid knowledge on the Apache, MySQL, PHP framework, this book provides an excellent explanation with sufficient in-depth focus on each and how they relate to one another.

5 comments about SQL Hacks.

1. This book is a collection of 100 different hacks, ranging from the simple to the complex. Each hack involves a specific problem that you may have already seen before, but perhaps tackled in a way you wouldn't have considered. Where it is impossible to phrase a statement that is acceptable to all of MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL, a form is used that is acceptable to at least two of the four. As MySQL is a relative newcomer, its designers have been able to build in compatibility with many of its competitors. For that reason, MySQL is usually one of the two systems that will accept the statement unchanged. That explains why most of the examples use the MySQL command-line utility. The MySQL examples are based around the version 5.0 release. However, many examples will work with the 4.2 release. Note that some hacks involve features such as referential integrity and transaction isolation, and these are implemented only for InnoDB tables and not for MyISAM tables.
   
   The examples also work for Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The SQL Server 2000 version is good enough for all but those examples that use the RANK( ) function. PostgreSQL and Oracle users should have no problem using this book, and most of the hacks will run unchanged on both systems. Oracle has many so additional features that optimizations are not mentioned. There is also plenty here for Access users, but none of the required variations are mentioned for that database. The following is the table of contents:
   
   Chapter 1, SQL Fundamentals - This is a gentle introduction to running SQL from the command line and programs. It also touches on simple SQL constructs. Even if you are already comfortable with SQL, you may find the flexibility of the SQL shown to be surprising and instructive.
   Hack 1. Run SQL from the Command Line
   Hack 2. Connect to SQL from a Program
   Hack 3. Perform Conditional INSERTs
   Hack 4. UPDATE the Database
   Hack 5. Solve a Crossword Puzzle Using SQL
   Hack 6. Don't Perform the Same Calculation Over and Over
   
   Chapter 2, Joins, Unions, and Views - The hacks in this chapter concentrate on ways to use more than one table in your SQL. Different strategies are examined and discussed. If you find yourself using subqueries more than JOIN, you may also find the methods for converting subqueries to JOINs helpful.
   Hack 7. Modify a Schema Without Breaking Existing Queries
   Hack 8. Filter Rows and Columns
   Hack 9. Filter on Indexed Columns
   Hack 10. Convert Subqueries to JOINs
   Hack 11. Convert Aggregate Subqueries to JOINs
   Hack 12. Simplify Complicated Updates
   Hack 13. Choose the Right Join Style for Your Relationships
   Hack 14. Generate Combinations
   
   Chapter 3, Text Handling - This chapter contains a number of hacks focused on efficient and effective text querying.
   Hack 15. Search for Keywords Without LIKE
   Hack 16. Search for a String Across Columns
   Hack 17. Solve Anagrams
   Hack 18. Sort Your Email
   
   Chapter 4, Date Handling - Suppose you want to calculate the second Tuesday of each month, or look for trends based on the day of the week. Both calculations are discussed, as well as other hacks involving date processing and report generation techniques.
   Hack 19. Convert Strings to Dates
   Hack 20. Uncover Trends in Your Data
   Hack 21. Report on Any Date Criteria
   Hack 22. Generate Quarterly Reports
   Hack 23. Second Tuesday of the Month
   
   Chapter 5, Number Crunching - This chapter contains a host of hacks for handling numbers, from report generation to complex spatial calculations. This was my favorite chapter.
   Hack 24. Multiply Across a Result Set
   Hack 25. Keep a Running Total
   Hack 26. Include the Rows Your JOIN Forgot
   Hack 27. Identify Overlapping Ranges
   Hack 28. Avoid Dividing by Zero
   Hack 29. Other Ways to COUNT
   Hack 30. Calculate the Maximum of Two Fields
   Hack 31. Disaggregate a COUNT
   Hack 32. Cope with Rounding Errors
   Hack 33. Get Values and Subtotals in One Shot
   Hack 34. Calculate the Median
   Hack 35. Tally Results into a Chart
   Hack 36. Calculate the Distance Between GPS Locations
   Hack 37. Reconcile Invoices and Remittances
   Hack 38. Find Transposition Errors
   Hack 39. Apply a Progressive Tax
   Hack 40. Calculate Rank
   
   Chapter 6, Online Applications - Databases can help drive web sites, be directly controlled from a browser, and help close the gap between client and data. This chapter looks at a variety of hacks for using database systems in web-based activities.
   Hack 41. Copy Web Pages into a Table
   Hack 42. Present Data Graphically Using SVG
   Hack 43. Add Navigation Features to Web Applications
   Hack 44. Tunnel into MySQL from Microsoft Access
   Hack 45. Process Web Server Logs
   Hack 46. Store Images in a Database
   Hack 47. Exploit an SQL Injection Vulnerability
   Hack 48. Prevent an SQL Injection Attack
   
   Chapter 7, Organizing Data - Hacks in this chapter are concerned with how data can be represented in a database, how data can be managed as it is stored and retrieved, and how errors in information can be detected, managed, and repaired.
   Hack 49. Keep Track of Infrequently Changing Values
   Hack 50. Combine Tables Containing Different Data
   Hack 51. Display Rows As Columns
   Hack 52. Display Columns As Rows
   Hack 53. Clean Inconsistent Records
   Hack 54. Denormalize Your Tables
   Hack 55. Import Someone Else's Data
   Hack 56. Play Matchmaker
   Hack 57. Generate Unique Sequential Numbers
   
   Chapter 8, Storing Small Amounts of Data - It is useful to parameterize queries using variables, treating the queries as functions and plugging in variables as needed. You can use standard SQL to provide parameterization, including variable scoping on a per-user or per-application basis. This chapter also looks at queries without tables, and support for inline tables.
   Hack 58. Store Parameters in the Database
   Hack 59. Define Personalized Parameters
   Hack 60. Create a List of Personalized Parameters
   Hack 61. Set Security Based on Rows
   Hack 62. Issue Queries Without Using a Table
   Hack 63. Generate Rows Without Tables
   
   Chapter 9, Locking and Performance - This chapter examines some common issues, and presents a number of hacks on isolation levels, locking, query partitioning, and result set management, all aimed at improving query performance and minimizing delays.
   Hack 64. Determine Your Isolation Level
   Hack 65. Use Pessimistic Locking
   Hack 66. Use Optimistic Locking
   Hack 67. Lock Implicitly Within Transactions
   Hack 68. Cope with Unexpected Redo
   Hack 69. Execute Functions in the Database
   Hack 70. Combine Your Queries
   Hack 71. Extract Lots of Rows
   Hack 72. Extract a Subset of the Results
   Hack 73. Mix File and Database Storage
   Hack 74. Compare and Synchronize Tables
   Hack 75. Minimize Bandwidth in One-to-Many Joins
   Hack 76. Compress to Avoid LOBs
   
   Chapter 10, Reporting - SQL queries for report generation require a different approach than those used for real-time querying. This can allow you to trade query performance for readability and maintainability. This chapter includes a number of hacks for summarizing, processing, and analyzing report data.
   Hack 77. Fill in Missing Values in a Pivot Table
   Hack 78. Break It Down by Range
   Hack 79. Identify Updates Uniquely
   Hack 80. Play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
   Hack 81. Build Decision Tables
   Hack 82. Generate Sequential or Missing Data
   Hack 83. Find the Top n in Each Group
   Hack 84. Store Comma-Delimited Lists in a Column
   Hack 85. Traverse a Simple Tree
   Hack 86. Set Up Queuing in the Database
   Hack 87. Generate a Calendar
   Hack 88. Test Two Values from a Subquery
   Hack 89. Choose Any Three of Five
   
   Chapter 11, Users and Administration - This chapter presents a few useful hacks on user management, both in your applications and in your database systems. It also looks at the common pitfalls in packaging a database-enabled application for easy installation.
   Hack 90. Implement Application-Level Accounts
   Hack 91. Export and Import Table Definitions
   Hack 92. Deploy Applications
   Hack 93. Auto-Create Database Users
   Hack 94. Create Users and Administrators
   Hack 95. Issue Automatic Updates
   Hack 96. Create an Audit Trail
   
   Chapter 12, Wider Access - This chapter look at how to manage a diverse range of users who have SQL-level access to your databases.
   Hack 97. Allow an Anonymous Account
   Hack 98. Find and Stop Long-Running Queries
   Hack 99. Don't Run Out of Disk Space
   Hack 100. Run SQL from a Web Page
   
   It is assumed that the reader is already familiar with database theory and their own particular flavor of SQL and just needs some "recipes" to get their job done. If you fall into this category, this book will make a fine addition to your reference books.



2. These hacks aren't for the beginning user, but for more advanced users. The authors explain the hacks, which can be written for any of a number of different databases, but then they explain necessary changes to allow a user of a differing db product to use the hacks as well.
   
   MySQL, SQL Server, Postgres, Oracle among the ones covered.
   
   If you are looking to make a step up from a decent database user to a very good one, this is a book for you.



3. I haven't found the book to be extremely useful, but it was a good read, with a few "that's another good way to do that" moments. It did get me interested in researching other topics I wasn't familiar with, bonus. If you work with SQL regularly you'll know a lot of this stuff. It is a fun easy read.



4. Two problems:
   
   1. Huge quantity of typos and writing and technical errors.
   
   2. It's definitely not "hacking" anything. At best (if it were corrected and proofread) it would be a typical cookbook: a number of loosely connected fragments of code for all kinds of potential scenarios. That's not bad, btw! But hacking it isn't. The word 'hacking' brings to mind an image of a Mad Genius as it were, but this book has absolutely nothing at this level. It's pretty much hum-drum SQL programming -- and I can see how it could be quite useful btw -- provided it didn't have so many egregious errors and typos. Snafus start right from the beginnning, and are at times mind boggling.
   
   The book does have a lot of stuff, most of which is useful -- or rather it would be if you weren't afraid it's got errors in it. You can try of course, you can proofread this book yourself: and, paradoxically, this will be good learning. But personally, when it comes to technical books, I prefer to be able to trust that they're competent and well done, rather than play an amateur editor and try to fix it as I read it.
   
   My recommendation: there's tons of similar stuff, so begin by looking for something else; if still interested, get the book into your hands and read a bit. See if you like it, see if you see errors, see if they bother you. In other words, do not buy this book sight inseen -- chances are high you will be disappointed. I regret that I didn't send this book back; YMMV of course.
   
   Good luck.
   
   ----------
   
   Examples:
   
   1. Hack 11, p. 37. The goal is, I quote, "to show the date on which each customer purchased the most _totalitems_" [a tableful of data shown with columns "customer", "whn" [when, that is], and "totalitems"]. Here's the solution:
   
   SELECT customer, whn, totalitems
   FROM orders o1
   WHERE o1.whn = (
   SELECT MAX(whn)
   FROM order o2
   WHERE o1.customer = o2.customer
   );
   
   Why are we MAX'in on date? The result shows -- no surprises -- the latest date in the table, even though more items were sold on another date.
   
   2. Hack 12, p 38. Here we adjust employee salaries based on their disciplinary record. None of this is important; what we do is produce a new salary which is the old one multiplied by something.
   
   The solution is as follows: first, let's create a view with a calculated field with the new salary so we can look at it:
   
   CREATE VIEW newSalary AS
   SELECT id, CASE WHEN COUNT(emp) = 0 THEN salary + 100
   WHEN COUNT(emp) > 1 THEN salary - 100
   ELSE salary
   END AS v
   FROM employee LEFT JOIN disciplinary ON (id = emp)
   GROUP BY id, salary;
   
   So far so good, however: then we update the table itself, as follows:
   
   UPDATE employee
   SET slary = (SELECT v FROM newSalary
   WHERE newSalary.id = employee.id)
   WHERE id IN (SELECT id FROM newSalary);
   
   Look at the second statement: what is the significance of the last WHERE check?
   
   The newSalary is a *view* on the employee table, and it is a view that does not exclude any records -- so what exactly are we checking now? If you've got a record to update, it is already in ! The view is on the table, it IS the table, it doesn't matter if you look at a record directly in the table or through a view, it's one and the same set element. You can't find a record in the table that's not in the view!
   
   3. Hack 13, "Choose the Right Join Style for Your Relationships", p.42 (typos): in the third paragraph, the reference to 'budget' table should have been to 'staff'; 'TRO2' should have been 'TR01'.
   
   Also, at the very beginning, "When a relationship between tables is optional, you need an OUTER JOIN. When querying over many changes, if you require an OUTER JOIN you sometimes have to change all the other INNER JOINs into OUTER JOINs."
   
   What does this mean? "When a relationship between tables is optional, you need an OUTER JOIN"? This doesn't mean a damn thing. Maybe it should be something like "an existing match" instead of "relationship"? I think so, but who knows...



5. Provide tips on overcoming most common issues in SQL.

3 comments about Beginning PHP and MySQL E-Commerce: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition (Beginning: From Novice to Professional).

1. Buyer beware! There is no help for this book. Downloads (code) does not work. Email messages to authors help links are not answered.
   
   I have read and used many books about PHP and MYSQL, this one is impossible to get through the 3d Chapter successfully.



2. This is an excellent book. It has enhanced my PHP, MySQL, object oriented programming and e-commerce skills. It is challenging, (because of the wealth of knowledge), but well worth the effort. And when I had a problem, author Cristian Darle responded accurately and courteously to my email. Very highly recommended.



3. Even though it can be argued that this book's title should actually be interpreted as "Beginning E-Commerce (using PHP and MySQL)", I still think that the word "beginning" should not be printed on the cover of this book.
   
   The book deals with topics that fall into the intermediate developer's skill set, like OOP, templating with Smarty, PDO for DB access, Ajax and even REST/SOAP in the final chapter. YOU HAVE to have prior knowledge of those technologies before attempting to successfully complete this book, as the authors spend very little time introducing them.
   
   Along with "Practical Web 2.0 Applications with PHP" this book is one of the few full length practical tutorial books available on PHP. So, if you're an intermediate developer looking to sharpen your skills by taking on a larger project, then this is a book you definitely want to buy.
   
   I also want to point out that despite being from the same country as the authors, I've never heard of them before seeing their book on Amazon.

3 comments about Open Source Development with LAMP: Using Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl, and PHP.

1. Open Source Development with LAMP (hereafter "OSWB") is the perfect book to learn a wide variety of server technologies that will have you writing useful, clean, fast, and productive websites before you finish reading.

   I was one of the technical editors of this book, and was able to watch it evolve as they wrote. The authors have made a huge effort to make the book appropriate for multiple Linux distributions, and they have achieved the highest degree of technical accuracy.

   OSWB covers many different technologies, some complementary, some discreet. By showing you many of the possible tools, this book lets you decide which is best for the job at hand.

   The theory behind OSWB is that knowledge of 20% of a tool's capabilities will let you accomplish 80% of the tasks you face. OSWB does a superb job of giving the user a sizable introduction to webserver technologies that will be sufficient for most rojects, and tells you where you can get information for advanced needs...This is the first book I know of that has written their website with the exact same tools they teach you in the book, and they offer the entire source of their website for download for your investigation and reference.

   The gold in this book is not just the descriptions of how the languages work, but how you can use them singly or together to create interactive websites. Their are many sample projects which let you see how everything fits together, and much of the ode can be adapted immediately to your needs. The book is extremely well integrated and organized.

   I have used some of the languages described in this book, while others were completely new to me. I am definitely not a web design person, preferring to write back-end server software. owever while reading OSWB, I was charged with creating a MySQL database with a customizable web interface for my alumni organization. Using only this book and a few perldoc commands, I was able to create an interactive mod_perl website in a few days.

   This book offers something to everyone, even advanced web designers. If you are starting out in Web technologies, or are curious about other ways you can get the job done, this is the book for you.





2. Open Source Web Development with LAMP is a very long title, but an absolutely killer book. LAMP is Linux (OS), Apache (web server) MySQL (database), Perl and PHP (scripting). This book also includes many languages not covered in other titles. I was particularly glad to see WML (Website Meta Language) which is useful for generating static pages through a robust programming construct. Static pages load faster and without any security concerns that you have with dynamic scripting languages like perl, php, embperl, or mason, all of which are covered extreemly well in this book.

   I've been doing web development for about 8 years, which probably makes me pretty old in the business. I've seen the dynamic web content languages from infancy, but I've never seen a good way of learning them until now. OSWD w/ LAMP is absolutely fabulous.




3. If you want an interactive database-based web site without spending hours and hours wading through dozens of books to figure out how to do it, then you will want "Open Source Web Development with LAMP". The book starts with the very basics and proceeds step by step so you can get your web site up as quickly as possible and with a minimum of problems. So what exactly is LAMP? It stands for the four components of a LAMP server - Linux operating system, Apache web server, MySQL database server, and the Perl programming language.

   The book is divided into four distinct parts and organized in an unexpected way. Instead of giving each part of LAMP its own section the four sections focus on structure (getting them all up and working together), static web pages (creating and using them), dynamic web pages (getting the pages to do something via Perl and MySQL), and embedded programs (to make the whole system run quicker). Each section covers all the components of LAMP as applied to that section. For example, the structural section examines installation, configuration, security, and basic usage of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and Perl. For Perl it includes a discussion of variables, arrays, operators, flow-control, regular expressions, functions, and file input/output. For MySQL it includes working with tables, insert, select, update, and similar basic commands. This is a very well done section and gives all the basic information necessary to get each of the components up and working with each other. The section on static web pages mainly covers the use of Website META Language (WML) to generate a consistent look and feel across all the web pages on the server. The part on dynamic web pages covers CGI and mod-perl so you can process information submitted by an html page or other CGI script. It also includes information on using Perl to access the MySQL server and generate dynamic information. The final section examines embedded programs such as Server Side Includes (SSI), embedded Perl, MASON, and PHP and how they are used to make a faster dynamic web site.

   I have to say that I really liked this structure. Once a system is set up it is rare to have to refer to the installation information again. If it were organized by Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl then I would have to flip to what I assume is the appropriate section turn past the installation portion and try to locate what I am looking for. This way, since it is organized by the various stages of getting the system up and running it is easier to find what I want.

   The text includes lots of example coding so you can actually write and test it right away. This is a great way to learn the basics. It is not a thorough course in any of the four components but it does give you enough of a background to do most of what you might need to do. Of course, what makes it really valuable is the fact that it covers how to get each of the components to work together without problems. There are good books on each of these components but it is rare to find one that focuses on the interrelationships between them. "Open Source Web Development with LAMP" is highly recommended for anyone who wants to set up a LAMP server or needing to work with one.

5 comments about Linux Server Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools.

1. First, I write software professionally. I write software, I am not a Sys Admin (which is hard work I might add; System Administration is for hardcore people.) This book saved me money by giving me answers to problems that would have taken me days to find the answers to by searching the internet.
   
   Hack #17 includes "pgrep"
   Before I was doing "ps -elf | grep something" to find a process I wanted to kill. Hack #17 explains a better way to do that with pgrep and things like "skill"
   
   Simple enough but time is money in this business and this book save both time and money.
   
   Also the book is a "good" read. The author writes well and keeps you reading. Not a dry manual.
   
   If you are doing Linux for fun or work you need will need to buy this book. It allows you more time to sleep at night.



2. This O'Reilly title really impressed me with useful tricks, such as running a shell command on multiple hosts or using a Makefile to maintain sendmail map files; however, while it gives you the short cut to do something, it doesn't always explain the syntax of the commands used.
   
   I wanted to use the Makefile to maintain files in my Postfix configuration, but the author didn't explain the entries in the sendmail Makefile enough to customize it to my own needs. It wouldn't taken little time and made the tip more useful to budding sysadmins.
   
   Still, the book is well worth the purchase price, and one can always glean custom techniques off the net.



3. If you are an aspiring Linux hacker/guru, you need this book. Sure, a lot of this information can be found online, but this book is so cheap there's no reason not to have a copy.
   
   I read this book after I'd tinkered a bit with Linux and taken a few online "system administration" courses in it. I knew the basics of operating Linux, but had no clue where to go next. If you've been through the "textbook" courses and want to take your next step, this is a good book to help you get your hands dirty setting up some useful stuff.



4. When you're ready to take your Linux expertise from the "desktop" level to the "server" level, this is the right place to start. It avoids trying to teach you everything and instead sprinkles your brain with possibilities. There are some interesting ways to do things and as your skill grows you'll find more uses for what's in the book.
   
   The only downers were the Version Control chapter--everyone has a preference and most methods have decent tutorials, and the use of perl in scripts. If you're good in perl then you can expand the scripts, otherwise it'd be cleaner and better to use Bash for the script examples.



5. This series is a great place to start learning the some of the most useful aspects of linux in a networked environment. The examples used in the book are very well laid out and documented. My only gripe is that the subject is a little dated but overall it is still a very good book.
   
   This is a great reference book, power users will find this book helpful as well as the second edition. One can expect to learn some of the fundamentals of linux with this book; backup, network shares, hostkeys, centralizing, and some other nifty one off mini-programs. This won't replace a lot of hard work, but it will make you think how you can work smarter.