Rating: 
Summary: Learned little from it that wasn't available online
Review: I've been using MySQL and PHP for a few months already when I got this book based on all the GLOWING reviews here at Amazon but I was somewhat disappointed upon getting it because I realized there was little information the book that I could not have gleaned from the docs that came with MySQL plus other online resources. If you're the type who prefers 'hand-holding' you will probably like this book however if you're a fairly hardcore techie guy who can get by with just a reference and a simple tutorial, you will find this book redundant. I found the online MySQL manual to be far more useful than this book. The main value of this book being more of a quickstart guide for MySQL and how to interface in to C and Perl. This sort of info is easily found on the web so save your money and some trees.Now that I'm a more or less experienced user of MySQL (and mostly due to practice and not from reading the book), I find that the rather sparse reference part of the book is quite lacking and only partially useful.
Rating: 
Summary: In depth look on MySQL
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly blemished masterpiece
Review: When I got this book, I already had a pretty good knowledge of SQL and databases in general, so I cannot comment on whether or not it is appropriate for complete novice. However, this mammoth improved my knowledge of SQL and MySQL by several orders of magnitude. And to top it off, it is a treat to read. Clear and consice, it's only time consuming because it has over 1200 pages. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about MySQL. It is however, lacking a few very minor areas - the section on SET column types, for example, could contain a note that spaces are not allowed between its values (though they are used regularly throughout the book) as well as an example SELECT statement showing options for finding rows whose SET columns contain (but aren't equal to) a specific value (hint: use FIND_IN_SET() or LIKE '%....%'). The index could be slightly more filled out, and the function/operator reference entries could be enhanced by a single usage/syntax example (though clearly, this is not always necessary.) But overall, these are only very small blemishes on an gargantuan masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent PHP Reference & How-to Manual
Review: This book is a "must-have" for the person beginning to use PHP with MySQL for web development. Concise, practical information. Easy to understand. Explanations of commnads and their uses as well as many examples. Well indexed, very easy to find specific information. This book has been invaluable to me in getting database driven applications on the web. This is one of the most thorough books on the subject I have seen to date. Well worth the investment!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Coverage both Broad and Deep
Review: This book provides excellent broad coverage of all aspects of MySQL and very detailed in-depth coverage as well. I found the chapters on MySQL administration, backup and recovery, and security particularly helpful. The writing is very clear and provides lots of good examples and step-by-step instructions. If you want to become a MySQL expert, read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Slightly blemished masterpiece
Review: When I got this book, I already had a pretty good knowledge of SQL and databases in general, so I cannot comment on whether or not it is appropriate for complete novices. However, this mammoth improved my knowledge of SQL and MySQL by several orders of magnitude. And to top it off, it is a treat to read. Clear and consice, it's only time consuming because it has over 1200 pages. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about MySQL. It is however, lacking a few very minor areas - the section on SET column types, for example, could contain a note that spaces are not allowed between its values (though they are used regularly throughout the book) as well as an example SELECT statement showing options for finding rows whose SET columns contain (but aren't equal to) a specific value (hint: use FIND_IN_SET() or LIKE '%....%'). The index could be slightly more filled out, and the function/operator reference entries could be enhanced by a single usage/syntax example (though clearly, this is not always necessary.) But overall, these are only very small blemishes on a gargantuan masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: ONLY THE BEST!!!
Review: WITHOUT A DOUBT, THIS MAN KNOWS HIS ONIONS AND HOW TO CONVEY HIS KNOWLEDGE TO OTHERS. I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE BOOK EXCEPT; IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MYSQL, BUY THE BOOK!!!!!!!.
Rating:
Summary: Truly outstanding book
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding organization and lucid prose
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Great MySQL reference
Review: Whether you are an experienced MySQL database administrator or want a book to show how to administer or develop for MySQL, then this is the book for you. While DBAs will find the appendices an invaluable resource (which cover topics as diverse as column type and function reference to the MySQL API), beginning developers will find the most use out of the more "instructional" chapters. This book is written for a very large audience, and appears to succeed in this area. The book is divided up into four sections: general use, API, administration, and the appendices (or everything else). The general use section is really geared for new MySQL developers. In this section, the basics of querying data, some of the nuances of MySQL, as well as query optimization are discussed. I was especially impressed by the appendices, which consisted of about 1/3 of the book. In the appendices, you will find a complete MySQL data type reference as well as various built in functions.
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