5 comments about Oracle SQL Tuning & CBO Internals (Oracle In-Focus series).

1. This book contain obsolete information. Most of the text refers to Oracle 7 or Oracle 8 and mostly incorrect information.
   
   Its not worth the money and time you spend reading it.



2. I was happy with the price and quality of this book. The book has detailed information about the internal workings of the cost based optimizer and the scriptgs were helpful. I could recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Oracle SQL internals of the optimzier.



3. Easily the most useless Oracle book I've ever read.
   
   I lost track of how many times it referred to the 'new features' in 8i. It even has a warning about using the CBO in release 7. Then it introduces new features in 10g. Is this a new features book or a tuning book? Does it know what it aims to be?
   
   To add insult to injury, it provided no information that isn't easily accessable from the Oracle website or Metalink.
   
   I should call the police because Ms. Floss and Rampart robbed me.



4. As other reviewers have noted this book is mostly a collection of old lightweight articles by other authors (some of them not even credited).
   Judging by the number of contradictions I wonder if Kim Floss herself understands the material that she re-printed.
   For the real insight into CBO get Cost Based Oracle by Jonathan Lewis.



5. One of the reviewers of this book (Donald Burleson) is also a contributor, in fact he seems to have a track record of rave reviewing books he has co-authored or published. Treat with caution and believe what the independent contributors say!

2 comments about The Rational Guide to SQL Server 2005 Service Broker Beta Preview (Rational Guides).

1. Service Broker is a rather new concept in database development that Microsoft is building into SQL Server 2005. It basically allows the creation of a whole new class of database operations that can be written in TSQL and which run asynchronously as part of a queued system.
   
   This concept adds a whole new dimension to SQL programming. It is an enormous extension to the standard capabilities of the language. As an example, a web server running an order entry application takes an order and puts it into the database. It quickly releases the web server to allow it to handle the next order. At the same time it puts information into a que to allow the back end processing of the order, inventory control, shipping, etc. to take place on a basis of operating when resources either on the database machine handing the order entry or an entirely different machine.
   
   This book is written by the Group Program Manager for SQL Server Service Broker. It is the first book available and is based on the Beta release of the software. As I write this, the third Beta for SQL Server 2005 is available on the Microsoft web site. This Beta includes Service Broker as described in this book.



2. Roger Wolter has written several major articles on SQL Server 2005 Service Broker, and so, when I ordered this book I wondered if it would be a re-working on those articles-NOT!
   This book is completely new material and it is great. Mr Wolter finds the balance of being able to write real prose that is not overly chatty. It is dense and to the point, and yet readable.
   When the subject comes to Service Oriented Architecture, Roger resists the urge, apparent in other authors, to write hundreds of pages of abstract statements. Instead he is able to explain his views on SOA in a matter of a couple dozens pages, which he illustrates with concrete code. Oh yes the code! The book is filled with code examples that have the look and feel of real production code-which is regrettably rare in computer books.
   The code provides good examples of SQL Server 2005 new TRY CATCH syntax and the WAITFOR command.
   My only quibble is that keywords in the code are inconsistently cased, but that doesn't dimminish my rating of five stars
   Service Broker is a remarkable product. It is an asynchronous transactional messaging system that is nevertheless still SQL!
   If you feel too busy to learn it, get this book. Roger wastes very few words in bringing you up to speed and beyond.

No comments about Pro SQL Server 2008 Entity Framework (Pro).

3 comments about The Sybase SQL Server Survival Guide.

1. Pretty neat book ...with lot of helpful tips. Definitely for an advanced user only!! Good desktop reference to own. Don't get daunted by the small print of the book ( in comparison to some other Sybase books!! ) Takes reader through all the concepts of Database Administration and also servers as a ready reckoner.



2. I have been a DBA for the past 5 years, but using other database systems. I am now working with Sybase, of which I have been the primary admin at my shop for the past year. Just what this book is useful for I have yet to encounter. Every time I have run into a hard problem requiring urgent attention, this book has been useless and sometimes doesn't even address my particular problem, let alone offer a solution. I used to pull it down and look for a solution when I got into trouble. Now I don't bother - it's just gathering dust.



3. I am a certified DBA for other systems & servers. I haven't worked with Sybase servers for several years. This book was just what I needed to jog my memory and compare programs & procedures with other database systems that I am more familiar with. If you are experienced with other database servers this book is the handy reference book that explains how Sybase interprets the basics of database programming and development. If you are a beginner - then I would use this book as a suppliment to other materials. It is a great "quick-reference" book with a Sybase perspective on database development & programming.

No comments about Developer's Guide to Reporting Services 2005.

No comments about Deep Traversal of SQL Full-Text Extensions.

1 comments about Client-Server Applications with Visual FoxPro and SQL Server.

1. This book provides one of the best references available for integrating Visual FoxPro and SQL Server. There are few guides for the Visual FoxPro Developer in how to create multi-user applications in Client/Server Mode. Urwiler, Dewitt, Levy, and Charon have teamed up to write a book that fills a large gap in the VFP to SQL Server integration area. The book provides a step-by-step process that is simple enough in format to understand and basic enough to put in practice with little previous SQL Server experience. The authors begin with a quick overview of client/server, basic database design and theory before moving into the more complex tasks of upsizing and connectivity.
   
   There are plenty of code examples and appropriate illustrations. As a book targeted towards the VFP programmer the authors do a fairly good job. The four coauthors provide tips and point out problem areas and pitfalls to avoid. There are helpful hints for using GenDBC a utility program the ships with VFP to refine remote views. While the book covers the entire subject of integration well, the better features of interest are the contrast and comparing of VFP and SQL Server database architecture. Some of the book's best sections of interest include:
   
   Using SQL Server Security
   Connecting to the Database Server with Remote Views
   Working with ODBC
   Optimizing View Performance
   Connecting to the Database Server with SQL Pass-Through
   
   Once you finish reading the book, many of the your questions regarding SQL Server integration will be answered. This book is a great introduction to SQL Server. But for the more complex operations of performance tuning and optimizing, there are better books available.
   
   The book is easy to read but leans toward the technical. Be warned this is a technical book and while some technical books not only instruct but entertain. This is not one of them. This is written in a no nonsense and get-down-to-business style. If you want a light read look else where, but if you need to upsize your VFP database and do it quickly look no further.

5 comments about Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Weekend Crash Course.

1. Lives up to its promise: introduction ito MSSQL Server, no less, no more.
   I moved from Oracle and was somehow confused by the "database", "filegroups" etc.
   I've got my answers here (and from couple more titles, to be sure)
   I neither had problems with instalation, nor with running the examples (save for one: the
   chapter on cursor sports keyword DEALLOCATED, has to be - DEALLOCATE; had to check BOL on that)
   The Transact-SQL examples could be better (I know PL/SQL, so I had some base here), but again
   the book does not claim to teach T-SQL..
   The code snippets sometime seem to be taken out of the contexts of bigger procedures, and
   I had to figure out how to fit them in; the usp_FindFactorial example seems too complex for
   the task it solves (it uses intermediate table to accumulate results
   instead of calling itself recursively; should it then be a function?),
   but my understanding is that the elegancy was sacrificed to cram in more techniques than requred.
   My examples did run correctly, though
   After I was through with the book, I had to buy an additional one on Transact-SQL
   (IMHO: O'Reily's book Transact-SQL Programming did NOT live up to my expectattions
   and the publisher's reputation; I used Sam's T-SQl in 21 days, and then Ken Henderson's book)
   To sum up: if you are new to SQL server, and find yourself
   somewhat overwhelmed by the Books-On-line style
   (comes free with every MSSQL Server installation), get this book
   NB: better download new installation from microsoft site; the one included with the book does not have latest security patches)



2. This book ideal for:
   1) Those who do not know SQL at all.
   2) Those who knows SQL little but want to learn more but quick and easy way.
   3) Those who do want to know what SQL can do can not do.
   
   This book is highly recommended. It teaches you quickly and easily. This book do not claim that they will make you mater in two days but they do teach you everything they can and quick and easy way. This book does provide some good references and covers all the quick points about SQL. I have really read this book in weekend and I learn myself from the point where this books ends.
   
   Pinal Dave (Macromedia Certified Advanced ColdFusion MX Developer)



3. Admittedly I do have a fair amount of programming skills. Albeit not specifically in SQL server, but enough to understand most programming syntax and business logic. By page 83 where the author finally begins his first programming lesson he has his first typographical error. A typo in a line of program code is like a surgeon saying, "oh darn" during open-heart surgery. A typo present in an example line of program code for a student is disastrous. As I said I do have prior programming language experience so it might be a bit easier for me than most who purchase this "piece of work" book to correct the authors mistakes. I can only imagine the frustration a novice will have when they type in WORD FOR WORD the example program and receive nothing but error messages.
   
   In all fairness I have not finished the book. In fact I gave up on his book half way though. I did go back and count the corrections I penciled in over his program errors, both in Syntax and Logic, to discover 16 blatant errors by page 132.
   
   One thing ever programmer knows is that we test and retest our code before release into a production environment. I would expect the same of an author of technical manuals. Like I said, "Hope this author never works on my Database".



4. I bought this book because it advertised that examples and code were on the included CD. Wiley (current publisher)has apparently removed the content without removing the promise of content in the book, on the cover, or in the advertising. I tried to contact Wiley and the author, but got no response from either. Lack of promised content makes this book useless as a weekend crash course.



5. If you just starting out or need to refresh your memory -- this is the book.
   Recomend it together with Beginning SQL Server 2005 Programming by Robert Vieira (WROX)

No comments about Dominar phpMyAdmin para una administración efectiva de MySQL.

No comments about Oracle SQL.