5 comments about Oracle Performance Tuning (Nutshell Handbooks).

1. I have been using a copy of this book for a couple of years now, and I have still kept it as my 'good tricks' bible since becoming being a certified Oracle dba. Ok, so not all the queries run first time as given, and the book is really about Oracle 7, but this is still the first reference book I turn to whenever another dba comes up with a 'I've tried everything to do this, but nothing works' type question. A very good book to read if you want to know how to make Oracle work for you.



2. This is the best overall book on Oracle Tuning but the editors were sloppy in weeding out the typos--no excuse for a second edition book. The index is one of the worst that I've ever seen in a technical book; sometimes you practically have to look at every page to find what you're looking for because of the way the book is organized.



3. Many of the tricks and approaches offered in here can enable you to perform some impressive rescuing of slow applications. Management tends to like this quite a bit. Having had this book from way back, there were many tips in there that were not available from the standard Oracle documentation such as making a query return unique records by using the rowid in the where clause. If you're in a database-centric development or DBA position, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.



4. The first edition, or as we affectionately called it, the "Bee" book was the bible. I recently bought the 2nd edition for old times sake. It still has a lot of good info but sorely needs to be updated. There are many Oracle8i performance features such as tempfile for temporary files that are not mentioned. Instead, I am turning to more recent text like Oracle8i & Unix Perf Tuning by Ahmed Alomari and Oracle Perf Tuning Tips by Richard Niemiec. Mark, loved your books. Can't wait for the updates.



5. This book has a lot of Oracle tuning tips and advise about some certain plattforms and technologies. Although there's a lot of considerable information about almost anything related with Oracle tuning (including OPS), it doesn't provide with a concise method or guide.

   The book is structured to help you at different stages of your Oracle implementation (design phase, production, proactive and reactive tuning, capacity planning, etc). But that good schema looks very confuse when the author starts to make suggestions or tips that aren't sorted by any kind of category (and they often takes a lot of pages)... Those comments are very good, so it needs a bit of more organization.

   I recommend this book for instance and database tuning, but not for SQL tuning (the author has another excellent book on this subject). There aren't too many advices regarding the plattform (unix or nt), so, keep in mind you'll need more support.

2 comments about The Info Mesa: Science, Business, and New Age Alchemy on the Santa Fe Plateau.

1. This is a well researched, well written, interesting book about scientists in Santa Fe developing entrepreneurial start-ups based on complexity science. The science and business combination is fun and wide ranging. It belongs to a genre of books about the Santa Fe Institute, of which Michael Waldrop's Complexity is one of the earliest and best. Many of the characters are the same in both books. My criticism of the Info Mesa is that much of it reads like publicity hype. It overstates the scientific accomplishments of the Santa Fe Institute and the importance of complexity research. It overstates the health of the tech business climate in Santa Fe. It romanticizes the people who work at SFI. It romanticizes the town in which they work. The descriptions of Santa Fe are so over the top as to be laughable to those of us who live here. Not even our tourist brochures hype Santa Fe so well. So, in conclusion, the Info Mesa's story isn't really so. All of you should just stay home, and leave Santa Fe to those of us who got here before you. ;-)



2. Ed Regis is an exceptional writer.

   This book is actually based on research, or least we anticipate a journalist's report of details. If you read his earlier book Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition you might choke on a few missing details. Ever hear of a transhuman? Regis applied this title grabbing "transhuman" to a few people who didn't know what the word was, let alone meant.

   Regis' use of "transhuman" was wide of the mark. His writing was marginalized when he neglected to point out the transhuman futurists in Los Angeles. Even one who coined the term, let along with a hundred others. At least they called themselves transhumans, unlike the Silicon Valley geeks. But then Wired magazine appealed to Silicon Valley and LA was Hollywierd. Sounds like Regis was noshing his editors at Wired.

   At least Regis is moving in an interesting direction with alchemy, can't factualize that.

   Roy Whitman

5 comments about Oracle 9iAS Portal Bible.

1. The text is a good initial coverage of the Portal product. With the new text from Oracle Press (Sept 20 printing) a developer should have all the tools he or she needs for a Portal project. We are close to a finished application in just a few weeks...



2. This book provided a very simple approach to understanding 9i AS architect. Oracle official documentation/install guide is very confusing, caused me several sleepless night figuring out 9i AS Portal issues. This book provided the simple and easy approach with the live example as you move along the chapters. I bought four other books from Oracle Press on the same subject matter and I rate them at 1.5 star. This is a must book for the first timer or a good reference for later use.
   Syed



3. Again James Millbery and Rick Greenwold have taken Oracle's cutting edge technology and made it easy to understand in this succinct and concise book. This is indeed the cookbook to come up to speed on this topic. The book is well written and full of great examples. I strongly recommend this book as a 'must read' for all Oracle Portal Developers.
   David Jacob-Daub
   Sr. Principle Instructor
   Oracle Corporation



4. If you build an portal, then you will have to integrate several 'j2ee'-applications. In the 'Bible' you'll find minimal help on 7 pages (out of 955!) to integrate JSPs and Servlets as portlet. The examples presented are partially buggy (e.g. p839 step 13. or p858 step 11. does not mention debuglevel, but step 13 shows the test page).



5. I found the book a good introduction to Oracle Portal and worth a read. However, the book has a number of bugs, inconsistencies between the text and the CD and missing information in the install section in chapter 2. It's also quite out-of-date now (as at 15-Apr-02). Also, the website for the book also does not contain the bug fixes, a big disappointment.

   Worth reading but be prepared for some frustration... When the examples do not work, try skipping them and you may find the answer later in the book.

1 comments about Oracle Networking (Oracle Series).

1. A good book if you are looking for a overview of Oracle in a network environment. Ignores the database itself (as it should). Covers Wide range of Oracle Networking components like SQL*Net, ODBC, network security, etc. Lacks technical usage details on individual parts. Good for DBA's, Sysadmin's and programmers trying to understand the network/communications area of Oracle.

5 comments about Scaling Oracle8i(TM): Building Highly Scalable OLTP System Architectures.

1. Now a days there are lot of Oracle books which confuses the readers with inaccurate information. But this book gives 100% accurate and pracical information. And James knows about the topics he is talking. Not that just cut and paste from Oracle documentation or some metalink notes.

   Great book and I have already recommened to most of my friends.




2. Excellent book that highlights the fundamental building blocks of any VLDB from all perspectives. Instead of dwelling on information that is already available in the manuals, it highlights all components for architecting a large system and is a definite read for anybody who wants to understand not only the oracle but all the building blocks that make it possible namely, OS, hardware and storage.



3. This book is not just for those interested in leraning about the way in which an oracle database can be designed for being scalable, but also for those who want to learn about oracle architecture.
   If you are about to build your first big oracle based application, the reading of this book will help you saving a great amount of time and money.



4. A very rare book which explains Oracle internals, more practical than academic. Advanced topics like latch contention etc are explained lucidly. This is the only book that explains hashing technique with a simple yet neat example.



5. I have over 50+ Oracle books from the last 5 years and have also taken all of the Oracle 8i/9i DBA training courses at Oracle. I have to rank this book even though it covers Oracle 8i it still is applicable, after all 99.99% of customers and companies with Oracle are STILL on Oracle 8i and have not even touched 10G yet I would definitely get this book along with Practical Oracle 8i: Building Efficient Databases by Jonathan Lewis, Oracle One on One by Tom Kyte and Oracle 8i DBA Handbook then you can become a real Oracle guru. No other book covers such a wide range of topics on Oracle in the clear succint method that this author does. Now cant wait for an Oracle 10G title soon.

5 comments about Oracle Pl/SQL Programming (Oracle Series).

1. This book is a MAINSTAY in my reference library. Though I do only limited back-end development in the applications I work on, this is the first book I look for when I need to be pointed in the right direction. I highly recommend it!



2. Oracle 8 is out and in this book it only covers to Oracle 7. It is a very well written book. It is a valuable reference however it was published in 1996. Still looking for Oracle SQL Plus 8.0 AND the PL/SQL Programming. I hope the author steps up to the plate and updates his work.



3. This is definitely an excellent book. No one should rank it less than 5 stars just because it was published in 1996. Please do some research before talk. Actually, Scott Urman has wrote a book, "Oracle8 PL/SQL Programming", which was published in 1997. Buy this one if you want to learn PL/SQL 8.0.



4. Although the information was accurate and useful, I think the strength of this book was it's clear and logical presentation. It is easy to read and very helpful. For example, I needed to know how to dynamically build the "where" clause for select statements and his chapter on DBMS_SQL gave me the tools to accomplish my task at work.



5. I bought this book as a complete Oracle novice, transitioning from Microsoft T-SQL to PL/SQL. I was worried about the transition being difficult until I read this book.

   It is one of those very rare books that presents advanced concepts in a context understandable by users of all experience levels. The author often throws in tips about Oracle PL/SQL quirks to watch out for, as well as some very applicable information about how Oracle works internally.

   I've since become more comfortable with PL/SQL, and the book also serves as a great reference. I highly encourage you to read this book straight through.

   I recommend this well-written book to anybody wanting to learn PL/SQL, as well as anyone needing a great reference.

5 comments about Oracle 8I Dba Handbook (Oracle Press Series).

1. This is not a bad reference book to have around. However, most of the information one finds in this book can also be easily looked up in the Oracle online documentation.

   As a "must-have" Oracle book, I recommend Tom Kyte's "Expert One-on-One Oracle".




2. better than the Oracle8 version. But you can find better books on the same topic, e.g., 8i Tips and Techniques or Oracle Manual "Administrator's Guide".



3. If you want to learn Oracle, this book is a good starting point. An spread spectrum of topics is covered throughout the book and the style Loney writes Is straightforward and easy to understand. It is a good book in order to understand the basic concepts about oracle.



4. I lied on my resume to get a particular DBA job and got it all because of this book and after a few months on the job and asking stupid questions (and almost giving mydelf away) I actually turned pro. This book has enough excellent material in it to get you into the job and to keep you in the job.

   I bougt a second copy to supoprt the author after this book nearly quadrupled my income.




5. Bottom line, almost every time I have turned to this book for an answer it has totally let me down. Unfortunately I have had this book for several years and am just now getting around to writing my first review.
   
   I admit I'm not a DBA. I'm a developer that occasionally has to perform, and sometimes just wants some understanding of, DBA tasks. Every time I have opened this book it has either not had enough information on the subject or just doesn't even mention it. It has gotten to the point that every time I get an inclination to open the book I tell myself not to; only to think maybe this time it will for once be helpful; only to be let down once again :)
   
   I have a lot of respect for the authors so my hope is I'm just not using the book as it was intended. Maybe my dissatisfaction has something to do with the fact that I'm not a pure DBA or that I have used it more as a reference as opposed to reading it cover-to-cover as bedtime reading. Even so I wouldn't think it would make a huge difference.
   
   For me the Complete Reference series has served me much better.

5 comments about Oracle Discoverer Handbook.

1. While this book may be useful to the uninitiated, it is useless for the administrator. There is only one very small chapter on administration, and it does not provide any useful help.

   This book would have been much better if it addressed all the issues that an administrator needs to do to set up the environment for the users.




2. Hi... I agree that the book does not cover the admin edition, but to be fair, the book clearly states in the introduction that the intended audience is the end-user, not the administrator. It is therefore unfair to put it down because of that.

   As an end-user book, and as an aid to learning the tool, it is brilliant. It goes way beyond anything you'll find in Oracle's own documentation. It clearly lists all of the functions that you can use and provides dozens of workflows to help both novice and experienced users create workbooks.

   For the cost of dinner in most good restaurants, I think its excellent value for money, and a great place to start for anyone considering using this product.




3. I have used Oracle Discoverer for years now (ie: v.3.0, etc.) and I wished many times to have a book that I could look through when I needed help. I've taught courses in Discoverer at numerous companies to hundreds of users and this book would be an excellent resource for end-users to have. For the more advanced users there's plenty of information included as well. Having this book on my bookshelf by my computer is good and bad. Good - because there's always something I have to look up (even if I already know it, it's good to know it's there); and bad - because when an end-user sees the book, they always want to borrow it.

   I would give this book high marks as it's a good all round reference and learning book.




4. This is the only game in town as far as Oracle Discoverer goes. We use it on the job, and while most of the book doesn't work for us, since we use a specific pre-programmed EUL, the chapters on using functions are what makes money for us.



5. Lots of tips, tricks etc. for end users trying to learn Discoverer.

   Lacks best practices, installation/configuration options for Administrators. Unfortunately, this seems to be the only book available covering Oracle Discoverer. For Administrators, the only available resource is Oracle Documentation.

5 comments about Oracle8 PL/SQL Programming.

1. After reading this book, my programming skills leaped from Oracle kindergartener to Oracle goddess! As well as a great introduction to PL/SQL and a thorough reference, this book sits right next to my keyboard when I program. It not only covers basic PL/SQL, but also Oracle built-in packages, objects, collections, debugging, and the list goes on. Whether you're just getting started or having been programming for a while, this is an invaluable resource.



2. I think this book is the best book to begin writting PL/SQL code, so It has all programming level, from beginner to expert.



3. I rate books by what the author states as the goals for the book. The Introduction to any book should tell you this. Oracle 8 PL/SQL Programming states that the book "is appropriate for both experienced programmers who neet to know just the syntax for PL/SQL and its advanced features, and for novice programmers who are not familiar with other third-generation languages." While there is much to recommend in this book it does not fulfill its promise.

   Novice programers will find this book a diffuclt read. It does contain useful information, particularly when the authors delves into his expereinces. However it is not structured as an instruction text that a novice programmer can pick up and learn from.

   How does it work as a reference? The explinations of the syntax vary between encyclopedic, as in Chapeter 5: Built-in SQL Functions and lacking completenes as in Chapter 7: Subprograms: Procedures and Functions.

   In Chapter 5 the author catalogues over a hundred functions available in PL/SQL. If the goal is to be a reference work this is a fine approach. It is not very useful to a novice programmer trying to learn PL/SQL. For the novice cataloguse do not demonstrate how to put the pieces together.

   In Chapter 7 we are formally intorduced to the Procedured and Functions. The problem is each element of the all important features of the language is NOT explained.

   For example, the AS and IN clauses are presented in the specification of the formal syntax but are not explained in the chapter. This oversite would be acceptable if these terms had been discussed elsewhere. A check of the Index for pointer to an explination revealed nothing useful.

   With respect to this example we are left with one of two conlusions. Either there is not explination for these terms or the index is not up to the task of providing us a pointer. In either case it makes this work a poor reference. How are we supposed to find details when there is no path to them?




4. I use this book for reference of PL/SQL programming. Ther're some examples in the book. The format and index of this book is good too.



5. I use this book to learn PL/SQL. It is well-written and easy to follow. The codes in the book are also helpful for learning and practicing what you are reading. The book is good for biginners and certainly useful for intermediates and experts. If you are new to PL/SQL programming, after going through this book carefully you should start writing your own codes in PL/SQL. The book can also be used as reference to check syntax or to review concepts. There are certainly other PL/SQL books but this one can be a starting point. Overall the author did a good job and I can recommend the book.

5 comments about Apple Confidential.

1. After reading the insufferable iWoz, I wanted a book about the early days of Apple that didn't suck. A friend gave me Apple Confidential 2.0 for my birthday, and it was just what the doctor ordered. It emphatically didn't suck.
   
   This is a well-written account of Apple, from the early pre-Apple blue box days through the book's 2004 publication. Instead of taking a traditional day-by-day walk through the company's history, Linzmayer arranges his chapters by topic. This makes following the individual threads of Apple much easier. Extra quotes and notes are included in the margins, which add colour and depth to the story. Jef Raskin, who unabashedly called himself the father of the Macintosh, said that this book was the most accurate depiction of how the original Mac was created.
   
   Each chapter mostly stands alone. Since each chapter covers only one topic (say, the development of the Newton), some of the chapters in the tumultuous 90s are a bit hard to follow if you're not already aware of certain pieces of Apple history. Many topics are referenced without a word of explanation, just an occasional pointer to the later chapter. The most glaring examples of this are the references to Be, the Star Trek project, and Copland.
   
   The chapter about the Star Trek project is a great example of another problem of the book. It's too early to talk about more recent developments. Star Trek was the project started in 1992 to bring the Mac OS to Intel. According to this book, the project was shelved in 1993. Typing on a MacTel today, it's obvious that the project was resurrected. I know that I'm not alone in wondering how this actually came about.
   
   Even with those complaints, I recommend the book. The early days of Apple are interesting indeed, and understanding them is critical to understanding Apple today.



2. This is the most thorough book on Apple's history that I've ever seen, can't wait for Apple Confidential 3.0



3. Don't just buy the book because you love Apple or the review is good. Go to local book store and see the book yourself first before buy one.



4. This book contains all the informations a mac lover like me need to know to understand how the Apple has born. This is a very nice reading for me, I've readed it in few days. Very good also the notes at the sides.
   A must for all mac fanatics in the world. Thanks Owen. Luca.



5. This is a great book that talks about the History of Apple Computer. I couldn't put it down and it was fun walk down memory lane of Apple computers and tech history.