Rating: 
Summary: wait for the next release
Review: I'll keep this book but it definitely can be improved. First off, the programs on the CD-ROM don't work. Second, the website where updated versions of the author's scripts can allegedly be found is dead. So for the high price ... you get useless programs and out-dated evals of SQLLab and SQLNavigator. Throughout the book there are boxes with bold text containing a tip or factual info. Why doesn't the author list all of these boxes at the end of each chapter or in an appendix for easy viewing?? This book would be 100% more user-friendly if he did that (the tips are usually pretty good). As it is now, you have to stumble page-by-page searching for relevant info and if you're lucky you'll find something. Fortunately the info is decent once you find it.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Oracle SQL Tuning book
Review: I've been doing SQL tuning for Oracle Applications for some time. I read this book once and I use it as my main reference for SQL tuning. I am reading it again for the second time now. It is very useful and easy to read. If you are planning to do some Oracle SQL tuning, this book is a must!
Rating:
Summary: The best Oracle SQL tuning book!
Review: I've been tuning Oracle Applications instances for several customers, this book is the best in its class. It is easy to read, it follows a logical path. I always use it as my main reference book for SQL tuning. If you want to increase your knowledge in Oracle SQL tuning, this is the book. It provides good examples and explains concepts very well.
Rating: 
Summary: This IS tuning the database (the other stuff isn't!)
Review: If the idea of slow database response scares you, this is a good place to start. You hear "tuning a database" a lot, but most of it comes too late. There are some queries that no disks, no CPU, and no amount of memory can speed up. Guy Harrison (well named) is expert on tuning SQL, and knows how to write about it in a way that makes it easy for you to benefit.Besides giving you lots examples of how SQL and PL/SQL can work well, Guy shows you how to use the tools (explain plan, SQL*Trace, Tkprof) that let you know when you are getting close. Actually, he points out that you need to set performance goals early on, and keep testing to see if you are on track; if you don't do that early, it may be too late when you realize you need help. One of my favorite sections is on tuning joins and sub-queries and the accompanying graph showing 197,664 block gets if you do it wrong (wrong index), and 45 if you do it right (using pl/sql instead of correlated subqueries). The title of this review aside, Guy has good sections on tuning an instance, looking at instance settings and hardware, that can be helpful if you get the application working well and still have slow response times, but most of the chances to have an application that works are available during planning and development, and this book defintely helps there. If you like working with Oracle, and want to know more, you will benefit from this book.
Rating:
Summary: This IS tuning the database (the other stuff isn't!)
Review: If the idea of slow database response scares you, this is a good place to start. You hear "tuning a database" a lot, but most of it comes too late. There are some queries that no disks, no CPU, and no amount of memory can speed up. Guy Harrison (well named) is expert on tuning SQL, and knows how to write about it in a way that makes it easy for you to benefit. Besides giving you lots examples of how SQL and PL/SQL can work well, Guy shows you how to use the tools (explain plan, SQL*Trace, Tkprof) that let you know when you are getting close. Actually, he points out that you need to set performance goals early on, and keep testing to see if you are on track; if you don't do that early, it may be too late when you realize you need help. One of my favorite sections is on tuning joins and sub-queries and the accompanying graph showing 197,664 block gets if you do it wrong (wrong index), and 45 if you do it right (using pl/sql instead of correlated subqueries). The title of this review aside, Guy has good sections on tuning an instance, looking at instance settings and hardware, that can be helpful if you get the application working well and still have slow response times, but most of the chances to have an application that works are available during planning and development, and this book defintely helps there. If you like working with Oracle, and want to know more, you will benefit from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not useful
Review: Information in this book is out-of-date and the techniques used are too simple. Doesn't contain enough information for experienced developers.
Rating:
Summary: Useful, but flawed
Review: Of all the SQL tuning books available on the market, this one provides the most depth. It provides solid, easy to follow examples. The flaw in this book is that it just provides 'techniques' for improving performance. It's basically a book that is useful for trial and error SQL tuning. When tuning SQL you should think in terms of sets and essentially 'What can I do to make the optimizer do the least work?' This book does not teach you to do that. I've yet to see one book that does. It also only discusses response time. Response time is an ends and is not a means in SQL tuning. By reducing the amount of work Oracle has to do, you improve response time. There is one serious inaccuracy in this book. I emailed the author about this and he did not respond. The author states that you can improve response time of updates, by wrapping them inside of a PL/SQL cursor. This is not only inaccurate, it's not even close. Not only does it take twice as long in Oracle 8i(slightly less in 9i), but it also increases logical I/Os significantly. How something this inaccurate could be missed in a major publication astounds me. To be fair, the 8i version of Steven Fuersteins PL/SQL book has the same inaccuracy(I have not read the 9i version). The rest of the book seems accurate. I recommend it, but beware that inaccuracy. I have not tested everything the author has stated, but I have not found any other inaccuracies.
Rating:
Summary: A must for DBAs and plus for developers, One of the Best
Review: Oracle performance tuning has become more critical for dba's and developers to master as database are approaching 10 plus terabytes. Some of the newest concepts have really improved performance and speed in which data can be found and retrieved. Some of this concepts include function based indexes, bitmap index, partitioning, parallel queries, and optimization hints. The basic starting permise is to make sure your system has enough memory and hardware processing speed. Two branches of thought have emerged when focusing on performance improvement: improved system tuning and improved Optimizer decisions. The Oracle DBA must become familar with how to tune operating system performance and database performance. Some of the valuable indicators are data cache hit ratios, Disk I/O activity, library cache, buffer hit ratios, and shared pool memory. Various views, scripts, tools, and data tables give the DBA insight into how the database is performing. It is safe to assume the database will grow and performance will vary from time to time. By monitoring and adjusting parameters the Oracle database can achieve relative performance to growth. If performance drops add more hardware or change object schema designs to reflect the data loads. Oracle has offered two amazing database architectures: dedicated server and Multiple Transaction Server. Each architecture has its advantages. From a developer's view performance of the schema objects are important, such as, tables, views, indexes, and PL/SQL. The Optimizer evaluates system statistics to decide how to retrieve data, whether it be by full table scans, index range scans, or join table sorts. Each type of index should be evaluated: single indexes, multiple field indexes, partitioned indexes, bitmap indexes, and function indexes. In some cases, it will make sense to use bitmap indexes for data that is relatively static. In other cases it will make sense to use function based indexes where data search on alpha data is complex. Yet in another case it will make sense to use a partitioned index where the data tables have been spread over multiple partition sectors and datafiles. Sometimes usage of indexes is not need and full tables scans are better. The developer uses the optimizer execution plan to see how the data will be retrieved. At first the execution plan may seem confusing, but understanding Oracle database architecture will make the plan readable. I've personally found that keeping the database statistic current and using oracle hints (ordered,index,and parallel) provided the best return on my performance improvements. Table joins is another critical area of performance tuning to grasp. There are a number of join types: nested loops, sort merge, cluster, hash, and index. The optimizer decides which type of join to use based on statistics and available indexes and constraints. The helpful advice, I can give you for purchasing this book is that there are PL/SQL optimization techniques to consider. One I found helpful was to use Packaged procedure calls from triggers rather than putting the PL/SQL code to execute in the trigger. I recommend adding this book to your library.
Rating:
Summary: If you write SQL on Oracle you need this!
Review: This book begins with the basic rationals for tuning SQL. It points out that tuning SQL offers the most significant opportunity for performance gains in an SQL application. It covers the tools used for query tuning and then procedes to business. There is a chapter on tuning queries that run against a single table. Next is a chapter on tuning queries that use joins. Then there is a chapter on tuning sorts and aggregates and so on. With this material, you can classify your query and then move to the authors advice on tuning it. The are also case studies on query tuning that illustrate the process involved in tuning queries. There is also some abreviated material on designing a high performance Oracle server and some information on tuning the SGA.
Rating:
Summary: Oracle SQL Developers - Buy this book now!
Review: This book contains everything a developer needs to know about tuning SQL statements. Highly recommended.
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