5 comments about The Art of Software Support.

1. This is not a paid commercial. I do not know or have any affiliation to the authors or publisher. This is the complete book for Software Support. Regardless if you are running a small, medium or large size call centers the fundamental structure and operation is the same. This book is the Software Support Bible. I have read most of the books on support and this one is the best. The authors (Francoise Tourniaire and Richard Farrell) are to the support field, what Yoda is to the force. Ok.. That's the only analogy that comes to mind. Well anyway you get the point. You won't be disappointed. Hats of to the Editor (Eileen Clark).



2. Tourniaire and Farrell do an **excellent** job of discussing the various aspects of software support. However, they make many assumptions that every company functions the exact same way. Coming from the support department of a major software vendor, most of what they talk about is geared to that business. Therefore, a great deal of what they say does not apply to internal help desks.

   Having both been on the phones and managed software hotlines **and** internal help desks for the past 15 years, I know there is no one way to run a hotline/help desk that applies in every case. You need to take the information they provide and weigh it against your own experiences and the way your company works in order to get the best out of the book. However, the book does address the pros and cons of various approaches which is more than many other books do.

   What is missing is a more detailed treatment of call management (the actual work on the phone) and not problem management (the handling of the customer's problem). Therefore, check out Call Center Management on Fast Forward, by Brad Cleveland.

   If the book had been more open to the possibility that not all companies are the same, I would have given it the full five stars. However, this is still one of the very best books on the market and I would still recommend this book highly.




3. This book is aimed at software product support specialists working for software vendors, but is also applicable to internal IT tier-2 support specialists (application support analysts). Some of the information contained in this book will give internal IT help desks ideas on customer satisfaction, support models and help desk management. However, this is not the book's primary audience.

   My review is from the viewpoint of an IT service delivery specialist. Product support specialists will have a different, but loosely related, set of requirements.

   The theme of this book is achieving customer satisfaction. This surfaces early in the book and recurs throughout. Since customer satisfaction is the foundation of support, regardless of from whom of where it is delivered, I found this to be one of the highlights of the book.

   Call management models outlined by the authors were valuable to me, and I found myself writing notes in the margins and highlighting paragraphs. I skimmed call management implementation because it is outside of the scope of my speciality, but did note that this information would be of interest by anyone who is setting up an internal IT help desk. It goes without saying that this material will be of keen interest to product support organizations that are setting up a call center. One nice touch here is the advice on disaster recovery planning - this is too often overlooked by all organizations and showed the attention to detail that the authors gave when writing this book.

   The discussions on packaging support programs and product call center support organizations gave me insights into the challenges faced by software vendors. These insights have armed me with information from which to craft an approach to effectively deal with vendors who are typically at tier-3 from an internal IT point of view. Another section that I found particularly useful covered managing software bugs and code fixes. This material is directly applicable to internal IT tier-2 support, regardless of whether they are dealing with internal developers or outside vendors. There are some gaps here, though. For example, I would have liked a discussion on configuration control boards, prioritization of fixes and enhancements, and configuration and change management. These subjects are important to software vendor product support organizations and internal IT tier-2 folks.

   This book also provides sound advice on selecting, justifying and implementing call center tools. Some of these tools are specific to product support call centers (and to an extent, internal IT help desks), such as phone systems and knowledge bases. Other tools, such as bug tracking and problem reproduction environments, are useful to IT tier-2 specialists as they are to call centers.

   I found some of the appendices to be especially valuable: Appendix C, determining staff levels, and D, creating and justifying a support center budget, were excellent reading that added to my own professional knowledge.

   Overall this is a valuable book that has multiple audiences. Aside from the gaps I mentioned above, I think this book needs to be updated to reflect the growing requirement for e-support. While I was tempted to give 4 stars based on the noted shortcomings, this book is so thorough and rich with ideas and advice that it deserves 5 stars. I only hope that the authors update this book with a second edition that addresses current realities of software support.




4. For all the importance of Call Centers, Help Desks and Support Networks, not much attention is given them in industry literature. It's almost as though these functions are an afterthought, as though the first support call might come in and someone would say, "Oh, yeah. We need someone to answer these, don't we?"

   This book is the first I've seen that looks at the building of a Support Center from the ground up, from budgeting to staffing, to training and retention, support software to development and dissemination of updates. It does so logically, step by step, providing sound reasoning and justification on each page, even to the point of including a complex and reasonable metric for determining staffing levels.

   I thought Tourniaire and Farrell fell somewhat short of giving the Support field a complete analysis, concentrating as they do on larger call centers rather than giving weight to the whole spectrum of support providers, like Internal Help Desks or smaller tech centers. Their initial thesis, on the Front Line/Back Line vs. One Hand models of support, is sound, but limited, giving no attention to the possible hybrids or any other models of support center. On the other hand, their description of the call completion cycle is thorough and unlike any I've seen. I also like the idea of writing a "Support Agreement" for one's clients, so everyone knows up front what is and is not covered.

   Overall, this is a very fine book and I would recommend it to Support professionals, especially to anyone just starting a new Call Center. Better to have all the info to start than to try and switch focus after ramping up.




5. Strong coverage of Escalation, Service Design, Measuring & Metrics, Scheduling, Staffing, Kinds of Support, Surveying Clients, Workflow.

   Weak/silent on Phone Skills, Call Monitoring, Time Management, Teamwork, Support Systems.

5 comments about Computer Security for the Home and Small Office.

1. Thomas Greene is most well known for his articles on cybercrime, network and computer security and other information technology subjects for the British tech newspaper The Register. As Associate Editor and journalist for The Register he has a developed a distinctive style and a great reputation.
   
   I have long said that more focus needs to be given to providing security tools and education to the home and small office computer user. Corporations have teams of people and expansive budgets to implement layered security solutions with administrators to monitor and enforce them, but home and small office users have neither the knowledge they need nor the budget to throw blindly into security.
   
   Ironically, all of the money and effort corporations put into computer and network security could be rendered useless if a particularly virulent worm infects the millions of unprotected home users and bogs the Internet down to the point of crippling it.
   
   Greene has seen this same gap in security and wrote this book to fill that gap. He covers a broad range of security topics in language and terms designed for computer security novices to be able to grasp and understand.
   
   One thing this book does that is admirable is that it goes beyond the simple security and recommends open source and alternative solutions- even debating the use of Linux over Windows, giving the user an in depth look at their options.
   
   Home users need this information and I recommend they check this book out.
   
   (...)



2. I agree with what everyone else has written about this book so far, although I did find the book a little difficult at times to follow (maybe I'm just a little dense). But what no one has really pointed out is that the book is highly entertaining to read as well, at least if you appreciate dry humor. I chuckled my way through the whole book.



3. This could have been a useful book, if it had lived up to its promise: Computer Security for the Home & Small Office. But, for example, the book (page 175-176) discusses securing Internet Explorer in the sentence "Fortunately, there's Mozilla", and then proceeds to discuss how to secure Mozilla. (Firefox as a separate product is not mentioned.) This simply is not helpful to the 90% of Windows computers that use Internet Explorer.
   
   Similarly, a great deal of text discusses Linux, both historically and from a security standpoint, and urges Windows users to switch to Linux as a security improvement. While this is arguably true, it fails to serve the users who have Windows, and the consultants and administrators who must secure Windows. A chapter on how to harden Windows and its associated programs, with recommendations on what Microsoft should do in future versions to improve Windows security, would have been most helpful.
   
   However, parts of the book are quite useful. The discussion of what Windows services can be disabled (pg.49-55) is important. The functional listing of Windows processes and TCP/IP ports (pg 351-387) is valuable.
   
   Surprisingly, for a 2004 book, it fails to mention some current technologies: the Firefox browser, WPA wi-fi security, and Windows XP Service Pack 2.



4. The author thinks this would be a good place to espouse his high-handed philosophy, instead of actually telling you how to secure your computers. Boring! It's essentially a Time-Life-Do-It-Yourself security book, with the author's personal rants included. Apparently he hasn't figured out how to create a blog.
   
   If you want to secure your home network, there are lots of free resources online that can provide the same information, and better books available without the long-winded speechifying.



5. This is a self-help IT security book aimed at those who work from a Small Office/Home Office (SOHO). Written by The Register's Associate Editor, it should be no surprise that the book challenges accepted norms such as Microsoft Windows, Office and Internet Explorer, recommending Linux and Open Source alternatives on security grounds. Regardless of the merits of the argument, the book is a worthwhile security awareness text for a general if IT-literate audience.
   
   From the preface: "This is a handbook for ordinary people concerned about computer security and online privacy. It addresses everyday computer users and Netizens with little or no background in information technology, concerned parents, business users, and corporate telecommuters. It speaks as well to corporate security managers struggling to articulate the necessary principles and procedures to nontechnical staff in understandable language ... It's a book written specifically for users that, I hope, can also make the professional's job a bit easier by promoting security awareness ...". I do not agree that the book is suitable for a nontechnical audience. It's not a detailed technical security manual but most of the issues covered are technical in nature, and the descriptions while clearly worded assume a level of technical competence beyond most ordinary computer users I know.
   
   The book is quite thorough, offering more depth and security content than the superficial coverage typical of many books aimed at ordinary PC users. It tackles head-on the installation and use of encrypted email packages such as PGP and GPG, for example.
   
   Advice in chapter 4 on using task manager to check for malware processes ignores the fact that malware authors usually hide their processes from the list. This perhaps hints at a limit on the author's technical knowledge but he is strong in other areas so perhaps this was just an oversight. He does however admit to being a "computer security specialist" not a "computer security expert".
   
   According to the author, the book is meant to be read from cover to cover like a story with activities for the reader to undertake at most stages. Nowhere does the book deal with the change management issues such an approach would cause in an office with more than a small handful of systems.
   
   Chapter 6 is a bare faced rant against Microsoft Windows and related products, mostly on the basis of it being an insecure monoculture, backed up with selected quotations that support the author's position. There is some merit in this point of view but the chapter is heavily biased and unfortunately detracts from the remainder of the book. It would have made a reasonable piece on the Register but not here.
   
   The author indulges in other extended asides and stories of historical interest only that also detract from the book's stated goals. Several paragraphs on BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease) in at least two places, for instance, can hardly be more unrelated to computer security for home or small office users.
   
   The author's journalistic training shines through in many places. He has presumably researched some areas in depth for The Register, whereas others are less well supported by quotations and commentary. Ironically, the latter are easier to read. I get the impression several of these `illustrations' were included purely because Greene took a journalistic interest in the original stories and has source material available, rather than because of their relevance to the subject of this book.
   
   If you are an IT manager responsible for IT support for a small business, or a student of information security working towards CISSP or a college degree, this book is good value and will give you plenty of things to think about and do. If you are a nontechnical PC user, the book will probably stretch your abilities to the limit, although if you have the patience and dedication to persist, you will be able to improve security of your PCs.

5 comments about Java 6 Platform Revealed.

1. I'm usually pleased with apress titles, and if asked to pick books on a subject "sight unseen" would go with them because of that. This book is an exception, and I'm going to return it. It's a completely trivial cover of the material and so shallow that it's no better than available online stuff. And to price this lightweight a book at $40 is ridiculous.



2. O'Reilly has a a "Developer's Notebook" series that I love. This book is very similar however, the writing style, examples, and editing is much cleaner. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a book that describes the new features and changes to the Java language version 6. The author writes in a why that I was able to read the book cover/cover without falling asleep.
   
   I learned a lot about he new version, what libraries to look for changes, and how major the changes are.
   
   My plan is to look for other titles by John Zukowski.



3. This great, little overview of a handful of the Java 6 features is a quick, easy read with some concrete examples. Definitely written for the mid-to-advanced audience out there, this should provide you with some core concepts and information about what's included in Mustang without going into painful detail.
   
   What makes this Apress fall short of a 5 is the author's pick-and-choose nature of "in-depth" coverage. You can tell which topics the author likes to cover and which ones he just doesn't get into. It shows his core strengths and competencies, but it would have been nice to possibly have a co-author to cover some of the things he skimmed over and also some additional material.
   
   Worth $40? I'm not sure. But I am happy that I got it. Being able to step away from the computer to study a little was valuable, and this book was a wonderful addition to my reading material.



4. You'll love this book if you are already a pro up through the current Java release and don't want to - once again - wade through Gary Cornell's excellent but complete treatise on the Java language just to figure out what is new to the language in Java 6. You'll hate this book if you want to learn Java for the first time, starting with Java 6, and decide to start with this book. Zukowski assumes you know the current state of all of the APIs he is talking about and just want to know what is new. He does an excellent job explaining what has changed and shores up his explanations with non-trivial examples. I highly recommend it to current Java programmers. If you are not already a Java programmer, wait for Horstmann and Cornell's "Core Java, Volume I-Fundamentals (8th Edition)" to be released in September and learn Java 6 and Java programming the right way and from scratch.



5. The title of this review pretty much says it all. Not a good book, though I suppose necessary at the time. I was really hoping for a follow up from O'Reilly to their excellent "Java 1.5 Tiger - A Developer's Notebook". As the man said "I just need the facts ..."

5 comments about Adopting the Rational Unified Process: Success with the RUP (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series).

1. "Adopting the Rational Unified Process: Success with the RUP" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321202945/qid=1073105259/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-1339915-1067139?v=glance&s=books) is a title any organization looking to streamline operations would be wise to pick up. It's basically a "how-to" guide on making RUP work for you. And right off the bat, it lets you know that RUP is meant to be picked apart.

   It explains strategies in getting the members of your team to buy into RUP's concepts, as well as getting management to support it. It also maps out a proposed strategy for using RUP not only in new projects, but for inserting it into work already ongoing.

   It's written with a very friendly tone, and explained in plain English, with short, to the point chapters, making it a very easy read. It's also organized very logically, and features many of the RUP templates, as well as UML diagrams and schematics that reinforce the lessons learned. The book also does a good job of demonstrating the concepts mentioned, by giving examples of how RUP is used, and then follows it up with an outstanding appendix highlighting many well-known businesses using RUP in their operations.

   Because of the clarity of writing, proven examples, and exhibits, this book would make an outstanding addition to the curriculum for either a software engineering course or business class.




2. This book is a very well structured and easy to read book that explains step by step how to be successful in adopting the Rational Unified Process. If you are a company that wishes to consider the RUP you should buy and read this book preferably before you start because it will give you excellent advice to follow before it is too late and prevent mistakes and back tracking.



3. This book is perfect for the new process engineer who is faced with the job of implementing RUP for their organization. Provides a great roadmap for following but not enough to do it alone - you will need a good mentor with experience doing this. This is one to add to the growing list of books you should read to be successful at RUP adoptions.



4. Target Audience
   IT professionals who are looking for instructions on how to implement the Rational Unified Process (RUP) in their project or organization.

   Contents
   This book is an instructional approach on how to implement RUP in an organization.

   The book is divided into the following chapters: How To Adopt RUP In Your Organization; The First Meeting With RUP; What Is A RUP Project?; Assessing Your Organization; Motivating The RUP Adoption; Planning The RUP Adoption; Obtaining Support From The Organization; How To Adopt RUP In Your Project; Deciding Upon Your Process; Documenting Your Process; A Guide To Successful Mentoring; Experiences From Actual Implementations; Adding Another Project Management Method To RUP; Glossary; Recommended Reading; Index

   Review
   The Rational Unified Process, or RUP, is a software engineering methodology that attempts to map out and document all parts of a software development project. It's extremely comprehensive, but it's also adaptable to whatever level of effort is appropriate for your situation. This book, Adopting The Rational Unified Process, will not teach you RUP, but it will help guide you during the implementation process.

   The authors have had extensive implementation experience with RUP, and they share their methodology of what works and what doesn't when it comes time to consider a RUP implementation for your organization. While RUP can be overwhelming to look at and imagine within your company, Bergstrom and Raberg help you understand each step of what is needed during an implementation. Plenty of time is spent assessing your organization and processes so that you can get a good fit and determination of what RUP pieces make sense given your particular situation.

   In my view, this book is probably best used by a project manager or team leader who is responsible for implementing a RUP project. If you are reading this material in conjunction with an actual real-life implementation, you'll get the most out of the information.

   Conclusion
   If you've had instruction in RUP and now need to take the next steps for implementation, this would be a good choice to assist you in that process.




5. Introducing or enhancing the methodologies and processes for managing software development projects, introduces a certain amount of Change in the organization. Change is inevitable, yet Change is always faced with some level of resistance.
   
   Depending on your corporate culture and environment, this book can help create a strategy road-map for successfully introducing the RUP process across the project or a larger team. While the book focuses on the RUP methodology, principles can easily be applied for PMBOK or other Project Management processes. It is a good book for planning, executing and managing the Change caused by adopting new software development processes, tools, techniques and templates.
   
   From my experience, the adoption stages are: Awareness, Understanding, Buy-in and lastly, Engagement.

No comments about The Well-Grounded Rubyist.

4 comments about Enterprise Services with the .NET Framework: Developing Distributed Business Solutions with .NET Enterprise Services (Microsoft .NET Development Series).

1. I'm impressed with this book. It's hefty 500 pages covers a wide range of topics at a level that should work for most intermediate to advanced engineers. The author doesn't go into obsessive details or the step by step explanations so often seen in books on Microsoft technologies. Instead, the author treats us like we have brains. Thank you.
   
   Secure SOAP services, networking, transactions, concurrency, security and more are all covered in an effective and thorough manner. Bravo.



2. Creating distributed applications in .NET is such a huge topic to try and cover in roughly 500 pages. You've got so many options based on who will use your .NET application and over what type of network connection/firewall configuration(s) they'll be using.
   
   I'd have probably given this book 5 stars if it had just a little bit more detail on some of the lesser known challenges with creating distributed applications.
   
   That said, Christian (author) does a great job of clearly communicating the complexities of creating a wide variety of distributed application types. Plenty of source samples to more than get you started on your way. I found his writing style easy to follow and the discussions quite relevant to the types of complex distributed software families I'm building today.



3. Nagel takes us on a guided tour of what .NET has to offer the programmer. The book shows the advantages of .NET over the earlier COM approach to writing distributed code in a Microsoft environment. A key advantage being that under COM, your components had to be registered with the Registry. Whereas under .NET, this is totally unnecessary. Very nice. Interacting with the Registry has been a perennial sore point for some programmers. So under .NET, your components are, in this sense, more encapsulated and hence easier to maintain.
   
   The virtues of writing a multitier application are explained. This is where you factor your code into 3 parts - UI, business logic and database server. (Or even more parts, depending on your circumstances.) How to do this in .NET takes up the bulk of the book. For example, the UI code shows how you might use ASP.NET to help build those components. While connecting to a database server can involve the use of ADO.NET.
   
   The subtitle of the book refers to business solutions. An important consequence is the need for atomic transactions when using a database. So an entire chapter is devoted to showing how .NET enables this.
   
   An important strength of .NET that emerges from the book is that it lets you do a lot of declarative programming, instead of procedural programming, to invoke components with useful functionality. The declarative effort is done by changing attributes in the XML metadata describing a component. Often, this is easier than writing a desired function by hand, and more robust against bugs.



4. 
   Excerpt from C# Online.NET Review (wiki.CSharp-Online.NET):
   "The author is quite well known in parts of the Microsoft realms. He is many times an author, a trainer, a speaker, and a developer. He is a good communicator--writing simply about a wide range of distributed application types, problems, and solutions. Often, he gives us sufficient detail to illustrate the case without resorting to tutorial-style, step-by-step instructions."

5 comments about Professional Adobe Flex 2 (Programmer to Programmer).

1. I've always been a big fan of the Wrox series, but I was rather disappointed with this book:
   
   * I found the learning curve was too erratic. I have a background in Actionscript so I wasn't phased when they showed lots of code in the early chapters, but it would certainly scare others away. At other times it went into tedious detail about something that was really obvious...
   
   * The tone of the book is dry and dull. I'm normally someone who reads books from cover to cover, but I'll admit I started skimming through a lot of the material.
   
   * The book covers a lot of topics, but in relatively little depth.
   
   * Commits the cardinal sin of having non-compilable code.
   
   * The chapter on Flex Data Services was just criminal - it only talked about *configuring* the server, not actually *using it*!
   
   * At no point do you ever BUILD A PROPER FLEX DATA-DRIVEN APPLICATION!!!
   
   Having said all that, the book does make quite a good reference book as it touches on virtually ever part of the Flex ecosystem.



2. Well I have to admit so far I've never been really happy with any book from 'Wrox'. This one does have some good examples, and it has been one of the better books I've had from Wrox. However, I like my Programming Flex 2 from Oreilly better. If you already have a couple books on Flex and are just looking for a bit more information, this one does have some pretty advanced examples in it - and is worth buying (but personally I'd try to save a couple bucks and buy it used).



3. This book hasn't been edited at all.
   No structure at all. Full of errors.
   It seems like the authors forgot to agree on who is gonna cover what.
   The third chapter is just rephrasing of the previous chapter.
   There is some useful information hidden in the book but it's really a pain to read.
   I suspect the authors are designers that have by accident started programming.
   And worse: they wrote a book.



4. Wanna know what happens next? So do I but this book won't tell you.
   
   Try Adobe's Developer pages. They are much more useful.



5. The book isn't awful but there is too much copy and paste from the internet. Read the section describing the config files for FDS and it is word for word what is on Adobe's website. Another example on page 218, the bubble chart example is almost identical to the example on adobe's website. When I buy a programming book I want it to show examples that are unique and do something different than the norm. Adobe's documentation is great and for simple examples we can all look there easier than flipping through 730 pages of a book.

1 comments about Microsoft Office XP 8-in-1 (8-In-1).

1. I love this book, we switched to Office XP when it came out and this book helped me get up to speed on Word, Excel, and Access very quickly. This book has taught me to do database stuff in Access that I would never have imagined that I would be able to do. Fantastic book, great author.

4 comments about Designing Effective Database Systems (Addison-Wesley Microsoft Technology Series).

1. Rebecca Riordan is one of the few authors that I trust so implicitly that I'll order any book she writes if the subject is even remotely of interest. She is able to explain complex, even daunting, subjects so clearly that they are easy to learn. And, as an added bonus, she has a witty, interesting style that ensures her readers are never bored even if the sujbect matter may be a bit on the dry side. If you have any interest in database systems, even if you have Riordan's previous book on the subject, this is a book you should not pass up.



2. Relational databases have a well developed theory underpinning them. Often described in formal maths language that can be offputting to a newcomer without that background. The merit of Riordan's book is to show that you can often understand and design such databases, without recourse to such formalisms, which greatly expands the potential audience for the book.
   
   There's scarcely an equation here. But you can understand the essence of different normal forms and what Boyce and Codd contributed to shoring up this field. Instead of equations, the author demonstrates what may be more intuitive to many of you - Modelling diagrams that show relationships in a visual form that is easy to grasp. You can see how a diagram can convey the essence of many relationships, and thus form the skeleton of a database. This visual understanding may be one of the most useful teaching results of the book.
   
   Riordan uses Microsoft packages to demonstrate how to make example databases. Commendably, she writes broadly enough that you should be able to recast these examples in another database if you wish.



3. Realistically, software developers are not the only only people who utilize databases. Any person who professionally works with computers deals with databases whether they know it or not. The database may not be a physical entity like a SQL or JET file, but something more subtle or conceptual such as your computers file system, the registry, the Active Directory, etc. The ability to understand and leverage databases is of great benefit to all IT professionals, and this book is a great place to start.
   
   Despite what the title implies, the focus of this book is not in developing any specific database system or learning a specific development platform, but rather to intellectually understand what makes a database a database, how a database should be structured, the steps needed to design an efficient database for the situation, how to pull data from the database in a meaningful way, and even the steps to take to develop the user interface. This is accomplished by walking you thru each concept and building on the information gained prior. Information is provided as clearly as it can be for the topic, and there is no shortage of visual aids.
   
   The fact that the author uses two Microsoft products (SQL and Access) to demonstrate concepts is more out of convenience than anything else. Both products install with an excellent relational database example (Northwind Database) which is used as the foundation for the concept demonstrations. As the focus of this book is informational a not hands-on lesson driven, and as database design and query structures are universal and not vendor-specific, readers using other database providers will have no difficulty following along and will find the presentation of equal value. Conceptually, however, it would have been nice to utilize an open-source and free database system, and provide demonstration databases as a download.
   
   Without a doubt, this is one of the best titles for learning database design and systems development. Concepts are clearly presented, easily understood and real-world applications demonstrated. Any person with an interest in databases can find value in this book and walk away with the ability to utilize the information gained.



4. This book gives you a points-to-points look-in on various core aspects ie: component parts & pieces, which earmark & characterizes the design of an effective database system
   
   i'd say, this is a good (first,introductory db design book). it will endow you with the vision or skills to look at/objectively qualify ,the items you need to take into consideration all along the way to designing an effective database system from the beginning of the db design lifecycle to its watershed
   
   This book is...
   - Is a good, first birds-eye view of core aspects of the database design terrain from 5,000 feet.
   - It's like circling at a high altitude of the database terrain first, whilst still practically clearly seeing the individual trees from the forest.
   
   Its a 319 page read . the detail level is just about right to serve as a quick review of items to consider.
   
   If its sorta your first dip into data & database design , its a good place to start but i'd recommend you take this book, couple it & digest it together with a read of :"Database Design" by Sams; ISBN:0672317583 -(a terrific book!) subsequently after ;
   and you'll have a really good,full 20:20 vision of the database system design domain/aspect.
   
   digesting these together gives you a brilliant foundation.
   
   Value: The second book(ie: the Sams book), will patch-up on areas like relationships & give you more meat on all the core checklist of items to objectively consider straight away, if say tomorrow you found yourself commencing with/starting a db design effort. it's a better cookbook.
   Riordan's book then would seem a very nice starter/introduction
   
   At this new knowledge point/vantage, you are now equipped with a greater, squarer view of the terrain at some 7,000 feet. ie: at this point, if you were interested in doing the sql-server design exam: 70-229, or the Oracle fundamentals I equivalent: 1Z0-031, everything would make so much more sense re: triggers, sprocs, functions, cursors, Business rules + Constraints, RAID Backup , Indexing, Views, the SQL angle etc. if you pick up an ExamCram2 book + Transcender, Testking or whatever you select as your exam study guide of preference, you'll be able to finally see & understand how things -(aspects of the puzzle), actually all fit together and be able to translate almost effortlessly from conceptual design aspects to the necessary logical design-blueprint , to the physical implementation aspects.
   
   And that which you understand... you won't forget
   
   After digesting the Riordan book followed by the Sams book, you are now ready for intermediate to proficient level. 10,000 to 12,000 feet - design proficiency.
   
   as a 3rd level book , i'd recommend you move on to reading the following 4 (ordered here by: most-entailed to least-entailed):
   (1.) Database Modelling Essentials; ISBN:0126445516 ;
   Value:(brings you a solid handle on building a database model to support a businesses activities)
   
   (2.) Database Solutions; ISBN:0321173503 ;
   Value: (clarity in cruising comfortably between d relational model and a good, solid, logical design...[a great book])
   
   (3.) Database Design for Mere Mortals; ISBN: 0201752840 ;
   Value: (great for reviewing Table Relationships -(setting-up joins) and reading the ERD -[Entity Relationship Diagrams])
   AND
   
   (4.) Databases Demystified; ISBN:0072253649 ;
   Value: (great for stepping you linearly through the database lifecycle again, with good explanations about what you should be sure you are doing & obtaining from each stage/step of the lifecycle)..ie: that which will be expected of you at each step/stage chunk
   
   To cap things up, Read :
   - "Beginning Relational database design" ; ISBN:1590594630 ;
   Value: (pulls all your data modelling personal resource skills together and reconstitutes them for you by casting you in a role where you practice modelling a complete system from scratch ie: -[from gathering the requirements specification, to the end of the detailed conceptual database design effort for the system]);
   
   And you'll have all the core skills you need to build/design one mean database, enterprise-oriented or otherwise or reverse-engineer one.
   
   if you are already in the thick of a project and are really pressed to find a db design solution -[(logical) + (implementation in SQL code)] right now, maybe consider buying or looking into purchasing the pricey: "Data Model Resource CD_ROM" ;ISBN:0471388289;
   
   Value: it boasts a library of proven: tried and tested Universal Data Models, for all Enterprise types.
   So, all you'll need do is adapt or borrow a design solution/model or architecture that applies closely to what you're trying to accomplish modelling for your database project ,and adapt & implement it as a solution for the database system you are designing. it's Magic!
   
   Though i rated d Riordan book 4 stars for the depth of its content matter, the book rates more like a 4.5 for sheer readability & clarity of explanations for such an often notoriously complex technical subject area.
   
   I'd talk about core books that translate to laying-out a solid physical database implementation & tuning for performance, but thats gonna have to wait till maybe a future book review
   
   cheers.
   -------

5 comments about Essential XUL Programming.

1. Bought this book about a month ago, so I think I've had a pretty good chance to review it. It's very good, despite the fact that Mozilla hasn't got up off their keesters yet! I'm an XML developer with limited Java experience, but the JXUL project they put in there as their open source project is very, very cool! That I think was worth the price of the book.

   I personally thought the RDF chapter was a monster (scary to me!) but very well covered! I'm sure when I progress as a programmer I'll be doing a lot of the RDF.

   I think the book is very well written, especially considering I am still a beginner/intermediate web developer.




2. In my line of work with SGML, the transition into XML comes pretty natural and with that the notion of "Hey, there is really a lot of cool stuff one can achieve with this!". Especially when you add XUL, XBL, RDF, and JavaScript/DOM to this.
   Thats where this book comes in really handy. The chapters are laid out pretty well and don't require a lot of experience with XML, although some basic knowledge of how a markup language work helps. The only downside about the whole XUL at the moment (in my view) is that its currently only supported in Netscape 6.x. The XUL support in Mozilla got broken somewhere between milestone release 0.92 and 0.94. However, the jXUL project looks really promising and would certainly make up for the lack of browser support since this will run as stand-alone applications in a "Runner" application.

   As others have mentioned, the chapter on RDF was pretty scary and daunting and should be revisited by the reader a couple of times. There are of course lots of RDF resources on the web that could provide more help and insight.

   The chapter on Netscape Themes (including the appendix containing all the different images and buttons used) could probably be left out in the next edition, to give more room for RDF or DOM?

   Grand total; A very good book on this topic that certainly will inspire the reader for further research in this area.




3. I bought this because because of the JXUL project. To the end I found this book very handy to understand that basics of XUL programming and quickly got me up to speed.

   A lot of time is spent talking about Mozilla (obviously). The problem is that a lot of that content will be quickly out of date. Discussion of other projects like Luxor, Xavier and the enhancements made in Mozilla since being published would make a welcome second edition. May-be wait for Mozilla 1.0.




4. I bought this because of the JXUL project. To that end I found this book very handy to understand that basics, intermediate aspects and application of XUL, RDF, XBL, etc.

   A lot of time is spent talking about Mozilla (obviously). The problem is that a lot of that content will be quickly out of date. Discussion of other projects like Luxor (like JXUL), Xavier (server side) and the enhancements made in Mozilla since being published would make a welcome second edition. May-be wait for Mozilla 1.0.




5. xul appears to have changed a lot since this book was printed.
   many of the xul tags discussed and used, the xul templates used,
   have changed. thus, most of the xul examples in the book are
   not going to work in firefox.
   
   e.g. the xul css skin url is no longer the same. lots of tags
   such as "titledbox" have been renamed.
   
   i'd say this content is deprecated.
   
   also, in my opinion, these chapters add no value
   to the book and in general weakens the
   existing content:
   
   an xml primer
   css
   the jxul project