Rating: 
Summary: A rare gem
Review: Mr. DuBois it that rare author who is both master of a technical subject and a good writer. This book should be required reading for all computer authors. Explanations are concise but thorough. Material is presented sequentially without undue references to material not yet presented. It is getting a bit dated but is still the definitive treatment of MySQL. Well indexed and through, useful for the expert but still accessible to the novice, it may be one of the best manuals ever.
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Summary: Absolutely Fantastic
Review: One of the first things I realized when I started reading and working off this book was "I wish I had bought this sooner". I have written quite a few applications in the past years (mostly in php), but my general understanding of SQL has always been rather weak. One of the reasons I never gave it any thought was "I can make my applications work it out in code, all I need is a simple query" (yes, yes - foolish). What I realized a few chapters into this book was how much I could cut down on my code. The entire application takes a neater and more efficient shape if you can get to your destination quicker. I heartly recommend this to anyone starting out, or, knee deep in code. This book is well written, well indexed and has excellent examples. Great Job by the authors.
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Summary: A very good reference
Review: This is a well structured manual that makes it easy to get up and running quickly and with confidence. It covers probably everything you need to know through at least the intermediate MySQL DBA level. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: RE: Best technical book ever written!, July 4, 2002
Review: I've seen enough of these comments to believe this is actually author's comments.
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Summary: A billiant, exemplary book.
Review: I agree with other rave reviews: this is certainly the best technical book I have encountered, and it is a pleasure both to read through and to use as a reference. DuBois's style is clear and succinct, with a fine wit. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this book is how much DuBois teaches within the confines of a single book -- so much, and so well presented, that the book seems far shorter than its physical thickness would suggest. By way of learning how to use MySQL for practical benefit, the reader also learns standard SQL, fundamental principles of database organization and management, and coding in C, Perl, and PHP, for use both on a local machine and in the Web context, not to mention installation and maintenance on various systems. The key to DuBois's clarity is his presentation of revealing examples at every step of the way, with explanations of each item. The index is also superb and there are richly helpful reference appendices. (There is one error on p. 250, where DuBois leaves out the first argument to print_error(), the connection handle -- an easy enough mistake and one that I have made far too often since reading the book.) If there were a prize for excellence in technical books, it should go to Paul DuBois. Bravo!
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Summary: Best technical book ever written!
Review: Out of about 30 technical books of mine, ranging from programming to UNIX/Linux, this book easily comes out on top. I completed a 6 month part time course in database administration using MySQL, and i can honestly say i learned more and had a better understanding of MySQL from reading this book than what i learned during the course. The book is very well written and easy to understand, not boring (which is important), and easily one of the best technical books ever written. It's just too bad the author hasn't written more technical books *hint*.
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Summary: RE: Ridiculously complete
Review: Would've purchased the book full price, is very much well worth it. Although it lacks a bit in query construction, it is overall the best installation/administration/programming guide on MySQL that I've come across. Hope they come out with a MySQL SQL programming and optimization guide...:).
Rating:
Summary: A must have for the beginner and professional DBA
Review: When I started programming this was the first book on MySQL I purchased. It taught me everything I needed to get started designing schema's and programming. It also taught me basic PHP! The examples used in this book to outline PHP/MySQL interaction are clear and easy to program. The author uses an include-based programming technique very similar to fuse-box. Read the first few chapters (the rest are reference) and you will have everything you need to know to get started and build upon. I keep this book on my desk as I frequently use it to refresh my query knowledge.
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Summary: Great for beginners and experts for SQL
Review: The book is a great reference for the full range of syntax that MySQL offers, and also taught me how to use basic SQL syntax. I did know a bit of SQL before I bought this book but I think if I didn't I wouldn't have a problem understanding it. Once you are through the basics there is a pretty sharp learning curve because it gets in-depth. The book includes PHP coding but I found that to be very hard to understand. "MySQL & PHP from Scratch" was an awsome partner to this book because it included a great PHP reference which this book lacks, and was plenty to get me programming in PHP. I'm not sure how well the installation guide is because my hosting company set up the database. The book also includes some UNIX and Perl DBI help but again I only bought the book for SQL so could not tell you how well those sections are.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reference book
Review: The book MySQL is an excellent book. My employer uses MySQL for many of our database needs and, being relatively inexperienced with databases, I had to be brought up to speed quickly and with good, accurate knowledge. This book is that resource. The coverage includes everything from setting up databases and tables to new users and permissions. When I have a question I almost always go directly to the book as opposed to the help pages that came with the database itself. The clear wording and solid explanations along with the excellent examples make it an extremely handy reference to have around at all times. I find myself referring to the book quite often for the finer points in creating SQL statements to do what I need them to do. The examples in the book cover almost every situation I've needed them to. Very rarely do I have the need to go elsewhere or seek additional resources for an answer. If you are going to be developing applications that interact with a MySQL database (whether your language is Java, C, PHP, or PERL) you need this book. It covers all of the functions and common tasks as well as database administration, security, and maintenance and repair. This is a great book and I would highly recommend it to everyone working with MySQL databases.
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