Oracle9i: A Beginner's Guide [Paperback]

Michael Abbey (Author), Michael Corey (Author), Ian Abramson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072192798 | ISBN-13: 978-0072192797 | Publication Date: November 26, 2001 | Edition: 2nd

Your introductory resource to all the powerful new features of Oracle9i--only from the authorized Oracle Press. This beginner's guide starts with an introduction to Oracle Corporation and where it is going with its product strategy, and then moves on to an overview of the RDBMS and the roll of a DBA, and progresses to slightly more advanced topics.

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Prepare for the future of e-business with Oracle9i and the comprehensive information contained in this volume. Packed with insider tips and real-world examples, Oracle9i: A Beginner's Guide starts with an overview of Oracle's history and product strategy, moves on to beginner-level PL/SQL and DBA concepts, and concludes with in-depth coverage of more advanced data management and manipulation techniques. It's all here--from setting up, querying, and managing your database to creating forms, reports, and tables, securing users and objects, and partitioning data. Plus, you'll get unique, all-new coverage of SQL*Plus, Oracle Enterprise Manager, and the Oracle Summary Machine.

• Get a detailed look at the Oracle9i Database and an overview of Oracle9i Application Server
• Exploit Oracle Support Services and resources--TARs, MetaLink, iTARs, Oracle Technology Network, and AppsNet
• Create tables, generate reports, and develop applications with SQL, SQL*Plus, and PL/SQL
• Understand the part played by data files, redo logs, and control files
• Interconnect vast numbers of computers using distributed processing, Oracle Net, and database links
• Manage larger tables using data warehousing and the Oracle Summary Machine
• Build database objects using DDL and DML statements

About the Author

Michael S. Abbey (Ottawa, CN) has been using Oracle for 15 years, has co-authored seven books for Oracle Press, and has given presentations on Oracle throughout North America and Europe. Michael leads the Pythian Group’s dbaSource team in Ottawa, Canada, which provides Internet-based Oracle DBA support. He has also been a volunteer in Oracle user groups, facilitating delivery of IOUG–A’s IOUG-A Live! from 1997 to 2000.

Michael Corey is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ntirety L.L.C. (www.ntirety.com) located in Newton, Massachusetts, Ntirety specializes in Remote Database Administration. Prior to founding Ntirety Mike co-founded Database Technologies, the first consulting company on the East Coast to specialize in Oracle and other relational databases. Under Mike's direction, Database Technologies experienced triple-digit growth. In 1997 Deloitte & Touche, and Hale and Dorr recognized Database Technologies as the fastest growing Technology Company in New England and the 51st fastest growing hi-tech company in the United States. Mr. Corey is a recognized expert on Relational Databases and Data Warehousing. He has written a number of articles and books. Mike is a frequent guest speaker at technology conferences throughout the world. In addition to being an entrepreneur and writer, Mr. Corey is a founding member of a number of Oracle groups, including Oracle User Resource, Oracle World Wide Affinity Program and the Oracle Presidents’ Council. He is a past president of the International Oracle User Group, Northeast Oracle Users Group,. He is also a past member of the Board of Directors for the International Oracle User Group – Americas and a member of the Microsoft Corporation Data Warehousing Advisory Group. Mr. Corey has a B.S. in Management Information Systems from Bentley College, in Waltham, Massachusetts. He has also attended the Entrepreneurial Management program at Babson College in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Feel free to contact Mike at [e-mail].

Ian Abramson (Toronto, CN) is CTO of Data Ware-housing for Data Visions Incorporated. He has 14 years’ experience as an Oracle architect, designer, developer, and DBA. Ian has focused on data ware-housing for the past five years. As the director of educational programming for the IOUG–A, he has created top-notch educational programs for the Oracle user community. He presents at Oracle conferences worldwide and is a faculty member of the IOUG–A University Master Class program.

Product Details

• Paperback: 535 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 2nd edition (November 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072192798
• ISBN-13: 978-0072192797
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,718,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not for a beginner, August 31, 2004

By 

Richard Morgan (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oracle9i: A Beginner's Guide (Paperback)

I am truly a beginner in Oracle; I have experience as a computer programmer and with SQL Server 2000, but never really have played around with Oracle. So I was looking for a beginner's guide to get me started. Sadly, I picked this one because I thought since it's from Oracle, it would have the best resources at hand.

Almost immediately, I was disappointed: Chapter 1 is a tribute to how amazing Oracle is and how godlike Larry Ellison is and it's filled with pages and pages of revenues and sales. What a waste of paper. Then Chapter 2 tells me how to use newsgroups and Google: more wasted paper. I come to Chapter 3 and I think I finally get into learning something. Then I notice they concentrate on Sun Solaris as the operating system which isn't very helpful to a person trying to learn this on his own at home. What follows is a list of files and processes: very dry and certainly over the head of a beginner trying to start using Oracle. Then on page 84 I read, "In earlier releases of the Beginner's Guide, we walked you through the Oracle server installation. With Oracle 8i and now 9i, it's too big a topic to cover in a book this size." That's how they start out their step-by-step walkthrough of setting up your first Oracle database. Oh, the last step reads, "12. Read the rest of this book." To me, the book wasted 80 pages then tells me installation would take too long. Very disappointing.

At this point, the small jokes the authors throw in are just insulting as the book slips into unreadability.

Perhaps this book is good for someone sitting at an already-configured database terminal at their work running on Solaris. And I would also think you'd have to have some experience running some previous version of Oracle. This book is certainly NOT for beginners. I hope I didn't waste my money so that after I read a REAL beginner's guide, I can come back to this one and learn something.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother, January 15, 2002

By 

BRETT ROBSON (Tokyo) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Oracle9i: A Beginner's Guide (Paperback)

This book promises much but in the end fails to deliver.

Oracle started off as a database engine but overtime a lot of products have been added. This book could tie it all together but doesn't; it ends up being an introduction to SQL, PL/SQL and DBA tasks, things which are better handled by specialist books.

Some sections of the book sound like they have been written by the marketing section. The history section completely ignores the importance of Forms 2.3 and 3 in the growth of Oracle, which is probably good because they don't mention the disaster that was Forms 4.0.

I certainly have a problem with the jokes and diversions. As an attempt to excuse a misleading Oracle error message, a whole paragraph is devoted to what happens if your automobile fuel cap is not closed properly. There is a reference to a wild horse chase, to give the wild geese a break. This makes it very difficult for my Japanese colleagues to understand. If I could say one thing to the authors it would be "you are not funny."

If you are very new to Oracle then it may be useful, but for anyone who knows about Oracle (or computers) then it is a waste of time. You will have to go on and read more advanced books anyway, jump the fluff in this book and get stuck into some serious books.

I might give this book to my father so he can get an idea of what I do.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good for Introdutry book for beginer. Not expert, November 14, 2003

By 

Song Choi "cheapseller" (Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oracle9i: A Beginner's Guide (Paperback)

Like title said, the book is for beginner and cover very wide area, It has include everything you need to know such a SGA, redo log, control file. It also cover package, procedure and function, Java and Form 6i. In other word, it cover from DBA to developer and show you the way where you want to move on.

However, each chapter can become a Book itself.

For those people who do not know what oracle is about and what sort of Component is involved as a Oracle DBA or Developer . This is book to go.

For those who are already family and want a detail information on how to Master on a specific tecni such as PL/SQL, DBA. Sorry and this is not the book.

BTW, I think the O'Really PL/SQL is a good book too.