Customer Reviews

MySQL (2nd Edition) (Developer's Library)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is not for beginners, or at least not for those coming from the GUI world without command line experience. Paul makes heavy use of the command line for his examples, and the book in fact contains a large amount of reference content on the command line tools you can use.

That said, the majority of the book is written in a well explained fashion, even the reference part at the end has lengthy explanations, so you will always find what you need. The reference section would be the ideal place to look at for type info, function parameters, etc. if the book would not be that heavy, but the precise explanations would not be possible otherwise.

This book tries to be everything for everybody, which is hard to accomplish. The first section provides an introduction to SQL, but there is also significant info for system administrators and a huge amount of pages on programming with C, Perl and PHP in connection with MySQL. If you are a beginner, and you are not interested in having your own server, or writing C programs, then this book might not be the best choice. However, if you would like to have a broad overview with details wherever you need, this book is advisable.

I was already developing mysql & php sites and apps when i purchased this book, so it was a good buy as a reference text, but if you intent to learn Mysql, there are better books than this one.

It is deep, slow to read, with rather small text size. For the beginner, i think it's not a good starter. But on the other hand it has almost everything you would want to know about Mysql, with lots of examples and quite well explained.

I learned Mysql and PHP from Sam's "Php and Mysql web development", and i couldn't recommend that one enough. It's a GREAT text for the beginner. I found myself writing Php/Mysql web sites in less than 3 months, starting from nothing.

I had little experience with database creation and maintenance prior to my current project. In fact, I had been putting off getting involved in any database projects for fear of the learning curve. I'm midway through the project now, and DuBois' guide has been indespensible throughout.

Highlights:
* chapter organization -- starts with a tutorial on basic usage of MySql, and relegates installation guidance to an appendix. Too often such texts mix usage and administation in a chaotic jumble.
* comprehensive index -- I've yet to fail in finding a topic at the first entry I've searched.
* appendices (MySQL operators and datatypes, SQL, C and Perl api references) -- due to the size of this volume, these handy reference sections can be hard to thumb to, unless you glue in some post-its like I did, but they're worth finding for quick, clear descriptions of total Mysql usage.
* prose -- Terse (despite the volumes' 1200 pages), clear, and well-organized.
* author's background -- DuBois' close involvment in the ongoing efforts of the MySql project have given him a vast knowledge of the arcane differences in versions and operating systems as well as upcoming features. The 2nd edition is very uptodate at of mid-summer 2003.

MySql, BTW, has not disappointed.

Recently I had to write a mysql demo for a tradshow. I had
never worked with mySQL before. I got this book and was
able to complete a full fledged demo in a matter of three
days, working part time. The book is very well organized,
easy to read and understand and best of all the examples
work without modifications. I highly recommend this book
for beginners. I would have done so for all levels but
I'm not an advanced user of mySQL.

If you're thinking of getting started on mySQL this is the
book.

If someone approached me and asked `Mike, I want to learn MySQL ad I can only afford one book, which one would you recommend?', I would have to answer MySQL by Paul DuBois.

I actually owe my involvement with MySQL and my current employment to this book. When I was taking an Oracle course in University I found a copy of the first edition of this book in a bookstore at a discount and picked it up in the hopes that since it referred to SQL on the cover it might help me with my studies. While the book did teach me a good deal about SQL, it also taught me about MySQL, an RDBMS I would use exclusively as soon as the Oracle course was over with.

At more than 1200 pages, this is certainly the most comprehensive book on MySQL available to date. This book covers everything from installing MySQL to query optimization to PHP programming, along with everything in between. The book also provides enough reference information that it serves as a nice substitute for the MySQL documentation when you do not have internet access.

Part one of this book deals with the basics. MySQL is described, and a basic SQL tutorial is provided. Later chapters describe choosing data types and performing the various tasks that are involved in using MySQL. By the time you complete part one, you should be able to access data, create tables, join tables, and optimize your queries. For a typical user these first 300 pages should be all you need to become an advanced user (not an administrator mind you).

Part two occupies the next 250 pages and is a nice introducion to programming and instructs you in the use of the C, Perl,
and PHP APIs. While not as extensive a programming introduction as you will find in a dedicated PHP, Perl, or C book, the subject of database programming with these languages is well covered, and you should be able to write a basic database application after reading part two.

In part three, Paul DuBois descibes the administration of a MySQL database. Of particular interest should be the chapters on
administration and security. Additional subjects include file maintenance, server configuration, and replication. As with part one, part three is comprehensive and should provide solutions for anything you may encounter when administering a MySQL database.

The reference information in the appendices is quite extensive, and covers everything from installation to function and syntax references. The information should be current to MySQL 5, and is an excellent resource when you do not have access to the online reference manual
with its current information.

This is without a doubt one of the finest resources available on MySQL. This was my first MySQL book and my old first edition is well worn and has served me very well. If you need a good MySQL book that can take you from being an absolute beginner to a seasoned DBA, this is the book for you.

While this book is a comprehensive, I found it to be more of a reference book than otherwise. It covers pretty much the same material as what is found in the online docs. Which isn't surprising as the book author is an employee of MySQL and writes the online documentation. The book is valuable as a reference, but it weighs in at 1200 pages which is more than I am going to sit down and read as a narrative.

The first chapter is a tutorial, but after that, it's all reference material. If that is what you are looking for, great. But if your looking for beginner/intermediate material, this is not it. The book does not cover MYSQL Workbench at all which is what the newcomer to MySQL normally uses to get started. Nobody wants to learn MySQL just from a command prompt, but this is the approach the book takes.

Greg

This review is specifically for the Kindle edition.

After receiving the download of this ebook, I was astounded to find that the index was just a list of terms with no link to the actual location in the book where the topic is discussed. This is not true of all Kindle books, because MySQL High Availability from O'Reilly, which I also purchased on the Kindle recently, does have a working index where each item is a hot link into the book. The pagination of a Kindle book varies by the font selected, so I can understand removing page numbers from the index. But then you have to make the items links, like you have in the Table of Contents. I would caution anyone interested in the Kindle version of this book to consider whether they can use a 1200+ page book of technical information without an index. I have to wonder if this no-index policy is true of the other books from this publisher. I don't know how to find out without first buying the book for the Kindle.

When I first got this book I was put off by its size. I mean what developers have time to read books over 400 pages long? And this one is over twice that size. But I started reading it and I found that it is clear and explains things very well. I also found out that I don't need to read the whole book, because it is broken up into different subjects -- really like several books in one book. I am a single independent developer that is working on building a huge PHP, MySQL Web site and I need to know how to use MySQL very effectively and how to optimize what MySQL has to offer. Since I'm outsourcing all my hosting, at this time I don't need to know about MySQL administration, and since I'm only using PHP, I don't need to know about the other APIs, and I can use the appendixes as a reference for functions and such. So I only have to read about 350 pages instead of 1150. And if I find I need to know about MySQL admin or about another API, it's right there. So, I'm happy, and the book is great. I've read 100 pages so far.

When I reviewed this book, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the author, Dubois, explained things very clearly so I could understand the concepts and how to apply them. Dubois is a master of MySQL For a book of it's size, it maintains continuity of concepts throughout. The breadth and depth of knowledge that it covers is terrific. If you only choose one MySQL book choose this one.

I was beginning to research MySQL for myself if hopes of using this technology in future web design / development projects. I knew that I wanted an instructional book, as well as, a strong reference book. MySQL does both. In his book, Paul Dubois really provides a comprehensive guide into the world of My SQL. Through using this book, the reader is exposed to everything from the basics, to using MySQL to generate dynamic Web pages, to administering MySQL servers.

The first part of the book started out for beginners like me, then, later the book progressed to more advanced topics. Current programmers who work with PHP and MySQL will get a lot of use out of the middle section.

At the end of the book, there are many appendices (10) that include information about other languages and interfaces like Perl, C, PHP and others. The appendices included a complete MySQL data type reference and information on built-in functionality. The very detailed index (50 pages!) at the end of the book makes finding exactly what you need quick and painless.

When working with my own server, the information Dubois provides on installation, configuration, administration, security, and troubleshooting was invaluable. I was able to get my server online quickly and began writing code in no time, with no former installation experience with MySQL. The tutorial was a great help and the step-by-step examples worked straight out of the book. You did not have to modify or edit them at all to get them to work.

This is the 3rd edition of this book. The author made this book available to the MySQL community for their feedback; that's just what he got. What's very refreshing is that the author took the feedback to heart and added it to this new edition, making it a strong and field-tested survival guide when it comes to MySQL.

Loren Elks
Group Manager, D-MAG.org

Paul DuBois is an excellent author. I bought his book, MySQL, about 4 years ago and used it until it was out of date. This new edition proves once again that he is one of the best authors and authorities in this field.
The book is complete and is a great reference for anyone wanting to dive headlong into MySQL. It goes from the very simple to the extremely complex issues facing DBAs (Database Administrators).
The only reason why I don't give his book all 5 stars is that the format of the book can be a bit unwieldy and I know this isn't totally his fault but it makes using the book a bit more difficult for me. I had a hard time finding some things but a little effort in searching paid off every time. Overall, if you are looking to MySQL for solving your database problems, you should definitely buy this one.