Berkeley DB [Paperback]

SLEEPYCAT Sleepycat Software (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0735710643 | ISBN-13: 978-0735710641 | Publication Date: June 24, 2001 | Edition: 1

Small, special-purpose computing devices and high-end core Internet servers need fast, reliable database management. Berkeley DB is an embedded database that provides high-performance, scalable, transaction-protected and recoverable data management services to applications. Extremely portable, this library runs under almost all UNIX and Windows variants, as well as a number of embedded, real-time operating systems.

Berkeley DB is the ultimate resource for the world's most widely deployed embedded database engine. This book will aid software architects and engineers, product managers, and systems and network administrators without the overhead imposed by other database products.

Designed by programmers for programmers, this classic library style toolkit provides a broad base of functionality to application writers. This book will help you to make intelligent choices about when and how to use Berkeley DB to meet your needs.

You can visit the Sleepycat website to get the latest errata for this book.

NOTE: The first printing of this book contained an error in the table of contents that caused the page numbers to be off. This will be corrected in the second printing. If you have an earlier edition, you can download a pdf of the correct table of contents that you can print out and use with your book. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the editor of this book at [e-mail].

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

When Keith Bostic and Liz Pennell of Sleepycat Software approached me to publish this book with them, I was ecstatic. Because my mission is to publish the VOICES THAT MATTER, working with Sleepycat was right in line with this goal. They are a dynamic and exciting company to have had the privilege of working with. They've put the same hard work and perfectionism behind this book that you find with their software development. It is because of this determination and continual striving for excellence that this book has turned into such a stellar piece of work. New Riders Publishing is all about publishing the words of the community leaders - the Voices That Matter. As always, I want to hear what you have to say about our books so please write to me here at New Riders Publishing and let me know. Enjoy.

~Stephanie Wall, Executive Editor

[e-mail]

From the Inside Flap

The tool that was missing from our programming hip pockets for the past 20 years was a good data manager. We needed a clean and easy-to-use functional API, transactional support and recoverability, and fantastic performance. It had to scale from single-user applications to servers with thousands of concurrent users. The source code had to be available, so we could debug our applications and integrate it cleanly into many different build environments. When we found that no such tool existed, we wrote our own. The result was Berkeley DB - written by programmers, for programmers. We're proud of Berkeley DB. We hope you like it, too, and that it helps you be a better and more productive programmer.

~Sleepycat Software, June 2001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1 edition (June 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735710643
• ISBN-13: 978-0735710641
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,049,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Reference Lacking Deeper Perspective, September 20, 2001

By 

"microtherion" (Sim City, CA (Somewhere in the Bay Area)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berkeley DB (Paperback)

This book will give you a printed version of the manual pages that come with the db distribution, the whole manual pages, and nothing but the manual pages. This in itself is a useful service if you (like me) prefer printed documentation over online documentation.

However, I was disappointed by the fact that the book does not go beyond the manual pages by providing more complete programming examples. Also, I would have appreciated seeing some of the excellent academic papers that exist about the algorithmic underpinnings included in the book.

As a final complaint, the book employs an increasingly popular binding style of using some sort of unsealed paper for binding. While I'm all for ecological packaging, I found that this style of binding (especially with a predominantly white cover) tends to take fingerprints and other smudges very easily, and makes it hard to remove them. As a result, the book starts looking ugly quite soon.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book/Great Reference Manual, July 29, 2001

By 

David Lloyd (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berkeley DB (Paperback)

My first encounter with Berkeley DB was with Perl and a CGI web counter. I had to use it because I didn't want to use a flat text file, nor did I have the tools to use PostGres or MySQL available.

The book's format is very much like a bound set of well-written man pages and tutorials. I don't think - though the editors would know better - that there's much in the book you won't find online or in a Berkeley DB Distribution.

Hence, if you are comfortble reading man pages and source only and/or using a web browser and the Internet to read technical documentation you can:

a) preview the book b) avoid buying the book completely

Nonetheless, the book is worth it because there are times when written, paper documentation does excel over online documentation for format alone [try having 6 xterms open, three virtual consoles and remembering which one had the online man pages open].

The only detracting thing is that someone made a mistake when numbering the contents in the first print and I have one of the first prints. Hence I know what's in the book but not exactly where; not a major problem as I tend to get used to the book layout in the end.

Conclusion:

It's a good book; it's both a reference and a reasonable tutorial for those who need one. It won't teach you how to program, but it will help you understand the Berkeley DB style of thinking.

I'd suggest buying it...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An important omission in the book and reviews too, March 9, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Berkeley DB (Paperback)

I think it is important to know that the book documents version 3.