Customer Reviews

Oracle8i: The Complete Reference (Book/CD-ROM Package)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book has much of the same content as its predecessor, Oracle 8: The Complete Reference, but also adds a good chapter on Java (SQLJ, JDBC, stored procedures) and information on other new 8i features. For example, PL/SQL invoker's rights is covered.

I have reviewed several general Oracle books and think this is the best for someone who wants a comprehensive review of core Oracle concepts. No single book can cover everything related to Oracle. For information on precompilers, detailed information on Java tools, Developer, Designer, Discoverer, Applications, and other non-core Oracle products, you should reference a book that directly and solely deals with those products. However, for a thorough reference covering SQL, PL/SQL, database administration, and general database architecture and development, this book is wonderful.

You know you need to learn Oracle, but where do you focus; DBA, SQL, WebDB? This reference book will help you learn the inner workings of Oracle.

Being a "complete" reference some areas had to be cut down. But, if you are a DBA or SQL coder this reference will be invaluable to you.

This is a must for any Oracle library and I plan to make it my first stop for reference questions. If you haven't had the oppotunity to attend any classes taught bu Oracle, you definately need this book, in order to get explanations of the differences in procedures in Oracle as compared to other RDBSs

All serious 8i DBA's should have this book on his/her desk, but just don't expect to find everything in it. It is like a soup-bowl: wide, but rather shallow. It contains lots of good syntax and a brief description and explanation of Oracle topics and I refer to it often. But I still have to refer to the more narrowly-focused Oracle books to obtain in-depth detail. This is not a substitute for the other Oracle Press books, just a great addition.

This book is a handy reference to a variety of ORACLE 8i topics. But, it doesn't go into any chapter in depth. For instance, if you look into PL/SQL, there is hardly 15 to 20 pages of reference material. Most of the times, I end up searching the web to get the answers (technet, metalink etc).

The syntax reference that you can view online at TECHNET.ORACLE.COM, fills up almost 25% of the book.

Overall, it is a bulky but shallow reference book.

I use this book on a daily basis to check on syntax and feature specifications. It gets pulled off my shelf at least 5 times a day. It is well indexed and contains many small snippets of code that mirror common real-life utilization, along with a very short lesson on normalization. The hardcover binding holds up quite well too given the size of the book and it lays open/flat quite nicely.

This is a great book to help you get up to speed and stay on top of Oracle-centric concepts. It helps to have some experience using an RDBMS before climbing the Oracle mountain, but the early chapters will help even the novice database designer get up to speed. I bought two Oracle books, this and one from another publisher, and this is always the first book I'll grab. The reference manual in the back is superb, complete and well-organized. There are several handbooks in the middle that detail the basics of database administration and optimization. There is a wealth of examples throughout and the book is well-written in a relaxed, non-academic tone. My only wish would be for the index to be a little more complete. I've literally spent hours thumbing through the book for obscure topics that should have been listed.

As a Java developer using Oracle, this book was a must. My knowledge of Oracle was limited, without this book I do not believe we could have written our application.

I have several bookmarks which point to key information like how to create users, rebuilding interMedia indexes, etc.

But like another reviewer said, the book is thick yet shallow.
It does lack any significant explanation of its content. Regardless, it is still a great reference even for newbies.

Just want to let you know that it IS possible to extract data from Appendix A (.pdf file on CD-ROM) despite the complaints from some reviewer(s).
In Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 the default cursor is the Hand Tool but you can switch at any time to the Text Select Tool (T in the Toolbar). When in Text Select Tool mode you can just select all the text you want and copy and paste it to create tables.
Not sure about older Acrobat Reader versions.

By the way; this book is an excellent reference.

After reading the whole book I can say this is a best book about Oracle8i I have ever read. It has a great way of explaining all the major beginner and intermediate topics about Oracle8i. It is not the best reference for the certification, but is extremely great to understand Oracle8i database and features. Every chapter is great and covers lot's of diferent tecnologies on Oracle8i. This is the best Database book I have ever read. I recomend to everybody that is beginning working with Oracle8i or beginning working with databases.

Of all the reference books for computer science subjects that I own, I have yet to find a book more poorly organized. Sure, there MIGHT be a lot of information in there, but if you can't find it, what good is it?

It is really a pitiful mess. My advice - Buy almost anything else about Oracle, leave this one to collect dust.