MySQL: Visual QuickStart Guide

Rating:
Summary: Balanced theory, practice, and application
Review: An excellent balance of RDBMS theory (including normalization), using MySQL (installation and full coverage of usage of SQL), and interfacing with SQL from several languages (PHP, Perl, Java), along with some "advanced topics". I plan to use this as a textbook for a MySQL applications course.

Rating:
Summary: Post-purchase support makes the difference
Review: Another reviewer mentioned "bugs" in this book, i.e., commands in the book that don't work. as I understand it, one of the difficulties with open-source software is that in can be available in a number of different packages from a number of different distributors that all work in slightly different ways. Therefore, if you're not using exactly the same version of MySQL, it's not going to work exactly the same for you. Given this inherent difficulty in writing a guide like this Larry Ullman does an excellent job. As some other reviewers have pointed out, the step-by-step approach of the Visual Quickstart Guides works really well for some people, like me. My first one was Liz Castro's HTML book, which got me hooked.

The best feature of Larry Ullman's book, though, is the fact that he has set up an online support site to accompany it. Larry personally answers questions from readers who have gotten stuck at various points. This is above and beyond the call of duty for most tech-book writers. Unfortunately for Larry, his wish to have more readers who have finished the book help out with the question answering hasn't come true yet, so if you do finish the book, go to the site and help him out!

Rating:
Summary: Post-purchase support makes the difference
Review: Another reviewer mentioned "bugs" in this book, i.e., commands in the book that don't work. as I understand it, one of the difficulties with open-source software is that in can be available in a number of different packages from a number of different distributors that all work in slightly different ways. Therefore, if you're not using exactly the same version of MySQL, it's not going to work exactly the same for you. Given this inherent difficulty in writing a guide like this Larry Ullman does an excellent job. As some other reviewers have pointed out, the step-by-step approach of the Visual Quickstart Guides works really well for some people, like me. My first one was Liz Castro's HTML book, which got me hooked.

The best feature of Larry Ullman's book, though, is the fact that he has set up an online support site to accompany it. Larry personally answers questions from readers who have gotten stuck at various points. This is above and beyond the call of duty for most tech-book writers. Unfortunately for Larry, his wish to have more readers who have finished the book help out with the question answering hasn't come true yet, so if you do finish the book, go to the site and help him out!

Rating:
Summary: Post-purchase support makes the difference
Review: Another reviewer mentioned "bugs" in this book, i.e., commands in the book that don't work. as I understand it, one of the difficulties with open-source software is that in can be available in a number of different packages from a number of different distributors that all work in slightly different ways. Therefore, if you're not using exactly the same version of MySQL, it's not going to work exactly the same for you. Given this inherent difficulty in writing a guide like this Larry Ullman does an excellent job. As some other reviewers have pointed out, the step-by-step approach of the Visual Quickstart Guides works really well for some people, like me. My first one was Liz Castro's HTML book, which got me hooked.

The best feature of Larry Ullman's book, though, is the fact that he has set up an online support site to accompany it. Larry personally answers questions from readers who have gotten stuck at various points. This is above and beyond the call of duty for most tech-book writers. Unfortunately for Larry, his wish to have more readers who have finished the book help out with the question answering hasn't come true yet, so if you do finish the book, go to the site and help him out!

Rating:
Summary: Good, and mostly (but not completely) .. uh .. complete.
Review: I bought this book Second; the O'Reilly was the first book on PHP I bought.

I made it through about 5 chapters of the O'Reilly -- through Arrays -- and just couldn't wrap my brain around the concept of Multidimensional Arrays and how they're handled in PHP. So, I bought this book. I read it cover to cover and really got a good grasp, not just of Arrays but of PHP in general and good programming techniques. then I went back to the O'Reilly and finished it.

So here's what I think: Neither book is perfect. The VQS is great for the absolute beginner, as is the O'Reilly. However, the O'Reilly gets into the thick of things such as Validation techniques and the like before this reader was prepared for it, and I suffered through a lot of the minutae of that process before I had a grasp of PHP programming. That said, the VQS guide barely scratches the surface of validation and security, however it covers its sub-topics in a very logical order.

the round-up:

VQS Pros:
*Very Readable.
*Makes sense chronologically in terms of learning process
*After reading, gives a good framework for further learning.
*Good online resources
*good Appendices

VQS Cons:
*Little in the way of validation explanation
*Not much info on Regular Expressions

O'Reilly Pros:
*In-depth (sometimes to a fault!)
*More complete information on Validation, Cookies, XML integration (the VQS had none) and Regex.
*Follows a theme throughout the book (a restaurant online menu project)
*Self-quizzes at the end of each chapter

O'Reilly Cons:
*Teaches a bit out-of-order (for me)
*Gets bogged down in the minutae early on
*Not the most readable writing style.

I recommend BOTH of these titles together. With them in hand (and maybe Larry Ullman's MySQL book) you will have pretty much everything covered.

Rating:
Summary: From total novice to in-the-know
Review: Larry Ullman's Visual QuickStart Guide is top-notch. At the beginning of the summer, I knew nothing about MySQL. Now I am SELECT-ing, INSERT-ing, and doing all other sorts of MySQL like a pro, or at least like someone who understands what is going on.

This book is divided into 3 major sections in my mind. The first 100 or so pages deal with installing MySQL, creating databases, and using SQL queries to do thing. The next 80 pages are about using MySQL in conjunction with various languages: PHP, Perl, and Java. The last 100 pages have helpful solutions (how to make a search engine, or present result pages when doing a search), a section on MySQL administration, and some useful appendicies.

Like most QuickStart Guides, you can jump around in this book and use it as a reference manual, though you really need to read from chapter 2 to 4 if you are new to relational databases in general or MySQL in particular.

Chapter 3 on Database Design is excellent. I walked through it step-by-step and followed the instructions to plan out my database. The database has been working very well, and I felt that I really understood what was going on instead of just entering commands and hoping they worked.

Chapter 4 and 5, which explain MySQL commands and functions, are likewise very well done and useful.

My only criticism is that sometimes the code presented in the latter sections of the book gets mired-down in lots of HTML tags which can make things a little difficult to read.

There is not much here for fairly intermediate to advanced users who already know MySQL. If that is you, perhaps another book would serve you better.

In summary: if you want to understand and use MySQL and have little to no knowledge of it currently, this book is for you.

Rating:
Summary: A solid introduction
Review: The Peachpit Press' Visual QuickStart series is designed for an audience who prefer step-by-step instructions on using programs but can't stand the superficial coverage and the patronizing tone of the Dummies series. Larry Ullman's "MySQL: Visual QuickStart Guide" is a solid introduction to a popular open source database program that's quickly becoming an industry standard. If you want a step-by-step tutorial showing you know how to set up a MySQL database and learn about the basics of relational database programming, this book's for you. Ullman even shows step-by-step instructions for different platforms, ensuring that no matter what OS you use, you won't get lost in the tutorial.

If you have already successfully installed your MySQL database and have tinkered around creating manipulating a few databases, you don't need this book. Instead, turn to Paul DuBois' wonderful and highly-acclaimed "MySQL" published by New Riders. I also recommend that book for readers who have successfully completed Ullman's book.

Rating:
Summary: Some codes do not work
Review: This book is wierd some of the codes do not work and some do.

It is very fraustrating to me as a beginner to run into bugs in the book.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic people!!!
Review: You really want to do business with these people.Fast,efficient and product was brand new condition. Highly recommended!!!