MySQL Tutorial (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A concise introduction to the fundamentals of working with MySQL.

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system that is rapidly growing in popularity. Known for its speed, reliability, and ease of use, MySQL has proven itself to be particularly well suited both for beginners and for experienced developers to create sophisticated database-backed Web sites and applications.

MySQL Tutorial is a clear, concise introduction to the fundamental concepts and techniques of working with MySQL. It teaches the beginning MySQL user how to create and administer powerful databases that can be used at home, at work, and on the Web.

Whether you are a novice to databases or a technical professional looking to find out more about how MySQL works, MySQL Tutorial efficiently guides you through the information you need in order to get started with MySQL and quickly become proficient.

About the Author

Luke Welling is a lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Information Technology at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He chooses to use Open Source software whenever practical and evangelizes the advantages of this approach as widely as possible. He has spoken to audiences in Australia, North America, and Europe about MySQL, PHP, and other Open Source topics. He has taught a wide variety of technical topics to university students and professionals, but he specializes in Internet-related topics.

Laura Thomson is a lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Information Technology at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. She has taught a wide variety of courses with a Web and Internet focus and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Web Mining. She speaks at conferences around the globe and has delivered training at organizations as diverse as Ericsson and Lonely Planet. Previously, Laura has worked for Telstra and the Boston Consulting Group. She holds a first-class honors degree in Computer Systems Engineering and a degree (with distinction) in Computer Science. In her spare time, she rides her horses, feeds her menagerie of animals, and occasionally speaks to Luke about something nontechnical.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: MySQL Press (December 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672325845
• ISBN-13: 978-0672325847
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #153,163 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Add This To Your Library, October 12, 2004

By	Kerry Kobashi (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Luke Welling and Laura Thomson have the special gift of taking information, disseminating it, and making it simple to understand for everyone. This is the second book I bought from these authors (Php and MySQL Web Development) without any complaints.

It is nice to see books of this size (250 pages) at this price point coming out. Nothing is worse than those large tomes that weigh a ton and cost an arm and a leg. You should be able to get through this in a week, which is perfect for busy professionals.

This tutorial is written very clearly and does what I want from it - nail down the 80% of the necessary information needed to get work done. After each chapter there is a quiz to test your knowledge. The authors tackle both the user and administrator side of using the product. One of my favorite sections in the book is the Database Crash Course which discusses normalization.

If you are serious about using mySQL in your web projects, look to this book to get you started quickly. This book won't turn you into an immediate mySQL expert. But what it will do is give you the skills to be proficient. It was good enough to get my projects started on my website, KerryOnWorld.com. This is a top 30 book in my 15-year technical library. That is how much I like it.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A concise introduction to the fundamentals of MySQL, April 30, 2004

By	Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity.com" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

MySQL is the database used by many commercial and open source security products. Although the user is often "shielded" from interacting with the database directly, it's important and sometimes crucial to know basic MySQL administration.

"MySQL Tutorial" is the perfect companion to any security tool which depends on a MySQL database. For example, no one seriously expects to collect large amounts of data with Sguil and Snort unless a MySQL or similar database is working in the background. "MySQL Tutorial" gives the right details on the right subjects for those running integrated MySQL databases.

This book is not for Oracle gurus. It's for people who need basic understanding of MySQL installation, configuration, security, and administration. I found the authors' explanations clear and relevant, hitting the high points I would expect in a 267 page book. The text is example-driven, using a sample "employee" database to demonstrate various administration tasks.

The only real fault I found involves the scripts at the publisher's Web site. They create a sample database whose naming convention differs from the book's description. For example, the scripts create an "employee_skills" table, but the book speaks of "employeeSkills". The best answer to this problem is to manually correct the scripts prior to running them, or to type in the examples by hand.

"MySQL Tutorial" met my expectations, with a page count and price far more reasonable than many tech titles available today. I recommend this book to anyone who uses MySQL in a role supporting intrusion detection systems, Web servers, or similar applications.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice introduction and overview, January 12, 2004

By	Just another reader - See all my reviews

This book assumes some familiarity with the basics of databases, and knowledge of some web application language with which you can write your queries.

Its a nice overview of MySQL's capabilites and quirks. After reading the first few chapters I am more convinced than before that MySQL is the best database choice for all but the largest, most critical applications.

If you're an experienced techie and you want the heavy details on MySQL, get one of the $50 encyclopedia-weight books. If you want a nice introduction and instructions on how to work with basic queries, try this book.