5 comments about Oracle Performance Tuning 101.

1. This guy has a clue. "Good" ratios don't mean anything if the users are complaining. EXAMINE THE WAIT STATS. Anyway, this fellow is an Oracle genius and actually has a sense of humor. Loved his explanation of pctfree/pctused. Even a child could understand it!

   My big complaint though (and the reason this did not get 5 stars) is that the #&)@! book falls apart. The binding is cheap or something. I have other books in this series and they have all fallen apart too. I guess Elmers Glue doesn't work on 400 page books. Other than that, awesome book.




2. The book makes little assumptions about the readers skill level thus covering many otherwise ignored aspects of tuning.
   It is interpersed by many highlights and references from outside the realm of databases to buttress some points.
   Covers performance tuning and especially the important views v$system_event,v$session_event,and v$session_wait views properly
   Great book to read



3. Gaja knows his stuff, he is the guru. Tuning 101 clearly defines a method to the madness of Oracle tuning. Dig into the wait events, figure out where and what the problem is. While tuning is a art, a scientific methodology can resolve even the most difficult problem. Great writing style, with a bit of humor thrown in!



4. Two stars may be a little harsh; I'm sure the author is very knowledgable. However, there is a difference between making a lot of true statements and imparting knowledge to someone else (explaining).

   First, be warned the book only is relevant to Oracle 7 and 8i. Oracle 9 tuning is not addressed. A lot has changed in Oracle 9 because of the automatic tuning features, so I feel this book is out of date and it is shameful that book sellers disguise this fact.

   There is a lot wrong with this book from the standpoint of someone who needs to tune Oracle. If you are a full time DBA and spend a lot of time studying Oracle and Oracle is your life, then perhaps this is a useful book for your collection. In that respect, the "101" in the title is perhaps accurate - it opens the subjects that you will need to dig a lot deeper into in order to really get something useful done. However, if you need a guide to tuning your Oracle database, you probably will be lost and frustrated using this book.

   The author in opening chapters lays out a tuning methodology which is basically "measure performance; locate bottleneck; tune appropriate component". Then he pretty much abandons that methodology and stuffs the book with brief descriptions of how Oracle does this and that, some related parameters, and some very general advice to wrap it up. But unless you take it much further yourself with other references and deep study, you will be hard pressed to know how to fix anything.

   Many Oracle books I have come across suffer from the problem of being either 3 times too long or 1/3 as long as necessary. In other words, the author needs to choose a useful format: either simply provide an overview roadmap to more detailed information, or go the distance and provide a detailed enough amount of information to get the job done. This author similarly needs more or less to make this text useful.

   I can't say the book is useless. Occasionally the author does give a brief formula or rule of thumb for sizing some parameter. But they are few and far between, and usually not in very important areas.

   What most of us need is a "Tuning Guide". That is, a step-by-step methodology where measurements are taken and parameters are estimated based on the measurements for tuning the database. Iterative tuning may be required, but that's OK if it is layed out as such. As you work your way through the methodology, your Oracle instance and application come into "tune". I don't know if such a methology can be designed; experts may claim it requires "intuition" and "experience". If so, then don't bother writing a book; otherwise, it is the author's job to turn intuition and experience into a methodology that others can follow.

   If a "Tuning Guide" is not the intent of the author but rather more deep understanding, then the author must follow the approach of building a crystal clear "model" of the system which identifies measurement parameters for estimating the state of a real system and identifies the "control parameters" which affect the performance of the system. Then the reader should be able to measure the system and perhaps deduce how to control the performance. This book falls far short of that goal.

   Here is an example from the book that left me helpless:

   "CAUTION: It is very counterproductive to Oracle system performance to over-allocate memory to one or more components of your shared pool. Over-allocation of memory here can and will cause significant parsing delays (in some cases we have noticed ten-minute response times for a query such as - select * from dual;)."

   Then the author does not provide any real criteria as to when I might be straying into such a disasterous region. He goes on to talk about "free memory" for various shared pool area pools, and on careful study you might deduce that too much "free memory" could be a related problem, but then rather than give any formulas or hard advice, he covers his "bases" with the wishy-washy statement: "The key here is to manage the space appropriately and make use of all the available pools in your version of Oracle." I'd love to - tell me how!

   I won't dwell on his erratic writing style which frequently tosses in chirpy lingo such as the subheading: "Hey, Oracle - What Is Your Plan of Action (P.O.A.)?". His use of analogies is weak and half-hearted such as his analogy for resource contention with "children all wanting the same toy".

   Basically, you know when you have a killer book that is a great tool in your toolkit. This one ain't it.




5. There is a lack of vision in this book as to what it wants to achieve. For a "101" book I was expecting to have a systematic approach to diagnosing and tuning system performance. Instead it wastes a lot of time on very general statements such as "choose the right balance", "find the bottleneck and then tune it" etc. I would expect that such things are obvious in fixing any problem.i.e. you understand the nature of the problems and then fix them.
   
   There is a start along the direction of using a systematic approach but the author doesn't follow through.

No comments about PROC SQL by Example: Using SQL within SAS.

2 comments about Access 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual.

1. Amazon should make it clear that if you buy this book you are buying a truncated big print version of "Access 2007, the Missing Manual". The text in the "For Starters" version is word for word identical to the bigger volume, but there is less of it.
   
   If you think you are getting an elementary text and a more advanced text, you aren't. Given that the price difference between this book and the more complete text is quite small, this book serves no purpose except as a trap for the unwary.



2. Have you always wanted to use Access? Have you realized that Excel simply won't work any longer? Then this book is for you. The writing is very friendly yet concise. It is far better than the superfluous fluff of the "For Dummies" series.
   
   The book provides a great overview of how to enter information, arrange into tables, retrieve using queries and present using reports and forms. Queries, forms, and reports will change your life. I now realize how much of my life was wasted collating and formating data for presentation in Excel, when I could have simply created forms, queries, and reports to automate everything.
   
   If you are a graduate student doing any type of research with quantitative results, you need to use Access. I create forms to simplify the data-entry process, and then queries and reports to see the results. Access is simply amazing.
   
   A real strength of this book is how it provides an experienced perspective to databases. Have you ever used a program that had a lot of features, but you had no idea why those features were included? This is true with Access, but the author takes the time to point out why some features may be very important, given the type of work being done.
   
   Don't be afraid of databases. Buy this book, sit down in front of your computer, and start playing. The author provides a lot of databases to play with from his website, so you gain hands-on experience immediately.
   
   Overall, this is a wonderful book. By far the most useful computer book I have ever owned. Enjoy!

No comments about The PostgreSQL Reference Manual Volume 3: Server Administration Guide (The Postgresql Reference Manual).

No comments about Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals (PRO-Developer).

5 comments about Access Hacks: Tips & Tools for Wrangling Your Data (Hacks).

1. This is a fine set of 100 tips and tricks that will help you get the most out of Access. It's a good combination of simple tricks, and more advanced coding hacks. Involving everything for networks, to XML, to data crunching ideas. Even if you don't find exactly what you are looking for in terms of a solution you will benefit from seeing how the author approaches the problems.
   
   Look through the table of contents, if you find ten or twenty that are in your areas of Access pain then



2. If you're new to Access/VBA development, this book will be a good reference. If you've been developing Access apps for a few years, there's not much in here you haven't already figured out for yourself.



3. I rate this two stars, rather than one, because it's likely that most people will find something in the book which will put them onto a new way of doing something.
   
   Unfortunately, the book (which includes "hacks" from seven contributors, as well as the principal author) is wildly uneven in quality. The poor quality varies from the text (it is noted that hack #9 is not an "eloquent" way of handling the problem) to the solutions presented. For instance, the example code in hack #22 turns off warnings -- but then never turns them back on, which could be rather disastrous (not to mention that any code which sets warnings FALSE absolutely needs an error handling routine which ensures these are turned back on). Hack #74, rated medium hard, introduces domain aggregate functions (DSum, DLookup, etc.), but the example code doesn't protect against situations when nothing matches the Where criteria -- so the example code will blow up if the DSum function returns NULL and tries to assign that to the Single variable. Examples relying implicitly on unnormalized tables abound. Would it have been so hard to think up examples that actually used normalized tables? Hack #19, rated medium hard, provides code to move through an overly-long form relying on SendKeys (!) to simulate PageUp and PageDown key presses. Rather than insert page breaks on the form and buttons relying on SendKeys on maneuver between these, why not just transform the long form into tabs on a tab control?
   
   The above is illustrative, rather than an exhaustive list of hacks that are trivial, dumb or even dangerous. While there certainly are some hacks in the book which gave me food for thought, problems like the above which I could detect in other hacks made me wonder what I'll find out the hard way as I try to actually use these new ideas.



4. I've enjoyed several other Hacks titles - Excel and Word particularly. This one is not quite the same; it's like a combination of interface and SQL hacks. Granted, there are many useful tips and ideas for code - not always bulletproof as another user mentioned, but if you know what to do you'll be able to apply these ideas.
   
   A lot of SQL-based hacks are self-evident to someone who has a solid SQL background; some interface features (such as user system tables, etc) are interesting ideas, but one might wish there were more of them. For instance, there are at least three examples of UNION statement in a query to concatenate SELECT statements... one would think this could be fitted into a single hack.
   
   Most of the form hacks assume that bound forms are being used, so if you populate controls programmatically (DAO or ADO recordsets) much of this won't be applicable. Form design is an important topic, but very few control properties are covered. Multi-user section is pretty pointless - if you work with multi-user access applications, you probably already know most of this.
   
   Certain hacks are duplicated; for instance, the one regarding "cleaner criteria" has basically two identical hacks back to back. Besides that and the UNION statement, there are a few other redundant hacks, retold by different authors.
   
   On the bright side, there are several good ideas, or at least interesting ones that open some doors to making your own hacks. There are some user-interface ideas that are valuable (like the one that highlights the active control). All in all, I do read this book, but use only about 20-30% of it, of which a good deal I either knew already or could figure out on my own.



5. I've only had this book a short time and have found more useful tips in this short book than in most of my other reference books. If you are proficient in Access, This is a must have!

5 comments about Building Database Driven Flash Applications.

1. This joke of a book is surely for people who want to use .NET. Totally agree with the reviewer who criticized this book. Not worth buying at all. There are much better books on .NET. If you are looking for Flash programming look elsewhere. This book is a waste of time and money. Most of the database work is being done by .NET and Flash is used only to make do some silly poor quality graphics. It is indeed a misnomer. Dealing with databases, Flash and .NET is certainly not the authors' cup of tea. The author needs to gain more experience in Flash/Database before attempting to write another book.



2. I found this book very useful. It shows how to make the connection between flash and databases. Contrary to a couple of the reviews, I was able to use their example with SQL Server 2000 and ASP.Net. It showed me how to integrate flash easily into my user interface.

   My only gripe with the book is that it seems they cover to many technologies (ASP, ASP.net, Access, SQL). I can kind of understand why they did that, but I would have like more depth on my technologies.




3. This book is chocked full of great examples. The sample code alone is a VERY usefull and worth the money that the book costs.
   It's for the beginning and intermediate Flash and ADO.NET person alike. It even goes into to detail about setting up your program and application delivery envoirnment. Very complete resource.

   The complaints I see from other reviewers shows me their limited knoweledge of Flash, .NET, and Action Scripting and it's use it the real world. I have a hard time believing any of them read this book. I believe they are here promoting their own agenda.




4. I understood Flash and vb.net, but I never really could grasp how to put the two together. I really like the way this book shows me how. It's easy to understand, but not so remedial that I didn't learn. Awesome examples also.
   Great Job.



5. There is much talk here about the good and bad points of this book. Strangley, everyone either loves it or hates it when the truth is that it's not good enough to love nor bad enough to hate. The authors know exactly what they are talking about, there's no doubt. But I think therein lies the problem because the explanation of the code examples is almost non-existent. So, if you are looking to learn the principles of connecting Flash to a data-base, then this isn't for you. The examples in this book are of excellent quality but, unless they are EXACTLY what you're looking for, customising them may prove tricky without an explanation of what each piece of code does. Other problems include frequent typos in the book and the constant switching from asp.net to asp and from SQL to Access. In fairness to the authors, their code example on parsing an XML document took my thinking in a direction that I would never before have considered but, in order to understand it, I had to go out and buy "The Flash 8 Bible"! So, my final word is, this book is not suitable as a single resource to learn the subject, but the examples are well rounded and the approach sound. To avoid disappointment, order it alongside a book that will help you to understand the principles laid out in the code examples (The Flash 8 Bible is a good start because its chapter on parsing an XML document is a simplified - and fully explained - version of the one in this book).

No comments about Smart Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (PRO-Developer) (PRO-Developer).

5 comments about Ocp: Oracle8I Dba SQL and Pl/SQL Study Guide : Exam 1Z0-001 (OCP Study Guide).

1. This seems to be the best book out there for IZ0-001.For the most part this book is great,however certain topics like LOCKS, PRIVILIGES and VIEWS are covered at a very high level of abstraction.I would recommend oracle manual for these topics.Aditionally the book does cover pair-wise comparison but does not explicitly use this term.Please be sure to familiarize urself with pair-wise comparison.From what i have been told IZ0-001 almost always has a question on pair-wise comparison and i sure did have one.



2. This seems to be the best book out there for IZ0-001.For the most part this book is great,however certain topics like LOCKS, PRIVILIGES and VIEWS are covered at a very high level of abstraction.I would recommend oracle manual for these topics.Aditionally the book does cover pair-wise comparison but does not explicitly use this term.Please be sure to familiarize urself with pair-wise comparison.From what i have been told IZ0-001 almost always has a question on pair-wise comparison and i sure did have one.



3. I used this book for the Exam 1z0-001. It is well-written and easy to understand. The book covers all the topics tested on the test. I even had some questions similar to some in the book. I took the exam on March 29, 2004 and I passed it. I will recommend this book to OCP candidates and even to someone new to oracle. Well! I already recommended that to some people who bought it. I also used as supplement the Oracle Press book written by Jason Couchman. The main goal is not to cram but understand the material.

   I give 4 stars.




4. I used this book for the 1Z0-007 Exam and I passed with a score of 48/52 !!. It includes almost all the chapters.
   You just need to study the new oracle 9i features.
   Great book !!
   
   Thanks a lot.



5. This book was very good and helped me pass the 1Z0-001 exam with a score of 54/57 (95%). All topics on the exam are covered by this book, and the CD comes with some good practice exams that are similar (although a little easier) to the actual exam questions. I would recommend this to anyone taking the 1Z0-001 exam.

5 comments about Proc SQL: Beyond the Basics Using SAS.

1. An experienced SAS programmer, I used the many helpful examples in this book to learn a lot about PROC SQL in just a few days. (I skipped the text.) I trust the few typos and obscure passages will be cleared up in a subsequent edition. I thought the sections on normalization and integrity constraints were skimpy. The book has also been favorably reviewed in The American Statistician 2005, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 350



2. If you are new to PROC SQL, this is the right book. It covers all the basic queries, complex queries in simple content, some troubleshooting, and a little bit of efficiency. The layout throughout the book is very easy to read and follow. All examples contain PROC SQL codes, results, appropriate explanation, as well as part of SAS LOG and comparison in some examples. This book might be a little basic to power PROC SQL users. But compared to SAS SQL procedure user's guide, it is way better to have.



3. I purchased this book one year ago under the influence of the high ratings here, but I didn't get chance to finish it until last week. After comparing this book with the SAS SQL manual (free online PDF file available at SAS website), I came to one question, why bother to buy this book? The book is not a copy of the SAS manual, but it is written in a strikingly similar pattern yet it provides LESS information than the SAS manual; on the contrary, the SAS manual gives you more materials, more examples, better narratives, clearer explanations than this full-of-typo book.



4. I have read most of the chapters of this book. I certainly advise anyone who would like to learn SAS SQL or improve her/his SAS SQL skills.



5. This book is okay, probably wouldn't buy if I would have flipped through it first, but ordered online. Too many examples, not enough explanation on the actual examples. Alot of examples were redundant.