Customer Reviews

Oracle8: A Beginner's Guide

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

 

 

I came in knowing nothing about Oracle except that it was a database program. I didn't even know exactly what to do with it. If you are in a similar situation, then this book is good, because it'll get you on your feet, and introduce you to what it's all about. It will give you a VERY LIGHT introduction to most features of Oracle.

However, once you need to do anything useful, this book SUCKS. I installed Oracle on my system, and I needed to somehow log in. How do I do it? What are the default passwords and accounts? This book did not tell me anything on this subject. In the examples for the installation procedure, they say "Let's assume you have an account Polly with the password 'gone'" HOW DID THEY CREATE THIS USER WITHOUT FIRST LOGGING IN???? HOW DID THEY LOG IN??? They never explain this, and these types of oversights are throughout the entire book.

Basically, if you know nothing about Oracle, this book explains things in a way that you can understand what the purpose of all the functions and programs are. If you want a 2-minute introduction to everything, get this book, and then once you roll up your sleeves, go buy another one. I don't regret buying this book, but I quickly realized I needed another one to help me do anything useful.

for those that don't know enough (or want to learn enough) to qualify as idiots.

The book has many mistakes, too much fawning over Oracle, and not enough useful information. A better choice would be the Complete Guide to Oracle.

I made the mistake of buying it at a Bricks and Mortar store after a quick look at it. I returned it a couple days later when I realized that however little I knew about Oracle that this book taught even less. This shows why reader comments at Amazon are so useful, had I read them I never would have wasted my time with the book.

I bought this book because I needed to learn Oracle quickly. I had to read through pages and pages of junk (jokes, tidbits, etc) and still there wasn't much content. Most of the examples are on NT which leaves out many of the hands-on features of Oracle. Unless you need extra shelf-ware, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!

It's a good book if you don't have any idea what is a relational database. Sometimes it's boring to read, but it has a wide range of topics. The chapters are very well explained and it isn't about Oracle database only, it talks about SQL fundamentals, Oracle Forms, Oracle Reports, database tuning, Oracle Loader, PL/SQL, installation and so on. I like it to learn and as a reference.

Poorly organised, dumbed-down version of the "Oracle: Complete Reference" published by the Oracle Press in 1995. Full of typos and verbosity; mostly misses the point it's trying to make and the examples haven't always been checked either. Try "Oracle Design" or the other books by the O'Reilly Press if you are trying to use the product in a development environment.

Clearly the authors/editors did not take the time to peruse the book for TYPOS, ERRORS IN THE SAMPLES, INCORRECT PASSAGES, etc. As a beginner I spent hours reading and re-reading the samples given in the book and asking my co-workers to clarify only to find out that I had been mis-lead by errors in the text. And the book is replete with errors! You would think the authors would be intelligent enough to stay away from using GLOBAL SEARCH & REPLACES when editing the book, let alone run a simple SPELL CHECK to catch a myriad of typos. The book also contains more advertising for Oracle Products than it has useful information. A definite disgrace for both ORACLE and the authors.

This book is definitely not for a beginner. I had to use this book for a beginning course for Oracle 8 and if it wasn't for a better book, I would have failed the course. On the other hand you may find it helpful if you are experienced in SQL and database lingo. I cannot comment from that viewpoint.

Sure it shows you some SQL, it shows you how to do a little DBA. Does it should you how to do simple DBA tasks like list the tablespaces exist or what users exist on the system? How about simply just what tablespace you are in? This book is lacking in teaching just basic knowledge about Oracle.

Although some of the items in this book are outdated (due to the costant changing of this software), is still a handy reference guide. Am currrently taking an Oracle 8 class in college, and have found it useful on severtal occasions.

So many errors. It makes me believe that it must be written by two beginners. Do not spend money and time on this book unless you want to be confused by these beginners.