DB2 Version 8: The Official Guide

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing for a book from these guys
Review: I bought this based on other books these guys have written, but was disappointed. I could have saved the money and simply read the whats new guide. The whats new guide does not have the examples this book has, but they are not worth the cost of this book.

Rating:
Summary: Already covered in What's New Guide
Review: I was disappointed in the depth of the material. I had already read the What's New manual and found much of that repeated here.

Rating:
Summary: A great TECHNICAL review of DB2 UDB V8
Review: IBM invented relational databases and SQL and they have since always been in the forefront of offering the most advanced features in RDBs, via their DB2 product. (Though it must be a source of considerable chargrin that Oracle has the bigger market share.) Nowadays, dB2 is in its 8th major revision, attesting to its maturity.

So what does this book offer? A veritable laundry list of enhancements. These range from improvements in the GUI to tighter integration into their Websphere container, and into java. Plus showing how to run it under Microsoft's .NET. As far as the core RDB usage is concerned, you do need prior knowledge of SQL and the theory of RDBs. It is not the book's place to teach that. You need it to fully appreciate the usefulness of the new features.

To me, it seems like there are no surprises here, with one exception, discussed below. The new features are all useful, but they are mostly continuous improvments on earlier functionality.

What is the exception? Multidimensional Clustering tables. A conceptual discontinuity. It automatically clusters data on the disk in multiple data field dimensions. IBM claims big improvements in query speeds, especially for complex queries. IBM is bragging! But they certainly seem entitled to do so. Oracle 9 and MySql appear to have nonesuch comparable feature. Granted, I am taking IBM's claim at face value from this book. But IBM's technical literature has always been credible. If IBM's clients independently affirm the utility of MDC, we can expect IBM to push hard on rapidly expanding this.

Even if you do use another database, just out of the need to keep abreast of changes in your field, you should check out this offering.

[If you do need to learn SQL itself, or RDB theory, try "Fundamentals of Database Systems" by El Masri and Navathe, also published by Addison-Wesley.]

Rating:
Summary: Key IBM Innovation!
Review: IBM invented relational databases and SQL and they have since always been in the forefront of offering the most advanced features in RDBs, via their DB2 product. (Though it must be a source of considerable chargrin that Oracle has the bigger market share.) Nowadays, dB2 is in its 8th major revision, attesting to its maturity.

So what does this book offer? A veritable laundry list of enhancements. These range from improvements in the GUI to tighter integration into their Websphere container, and into java. Plus showing how to run it under Microsoft's .NET. As far as the core RDB usage is concerned, you do need prior knowledge of SQL and the theory of RDBs. It is not the book's place to teach that. You need it to fully appreciate the usefulness of the new features.

To me, it seems like there are no surprises here, with one exception, discussed below. The new features are all useful, but they are mostly continuous improvments on earlier functionality.

What is the exception? Multidimensional Clustering tables. A conceptual discontinuity. It automatically clusters data on the disk in multiple data field dimensions. IBM claims big improvements in query speeds, especially for complex queries. IBM is bragging! But they certainly seem entitled to do so. Oracle 9 and MySql appear to have nonesuch comparable feature. Granted, I am taking IBM's claim at face value from this book. But IBM's technical literature has always been credible. If IBM's clients independently affirm the utility of MDC, we can expect IBM to push hard on rapidly expanding this.

Even if you do use another database, just out of the need to keep abreast of changes in your field, you should check out this offering.

[If you do need to learn SQL itself, or RDB theory, try "Fundamentals of Database Systems" by El Masri and Navathe, also published by Addison-Wesley.]

Rating:
Summary: A great TECHNICAL review of DB2 UDB V8
Review: This is a great book for what I do. I needed to keep on top of the new features in DB2 -- though for the wrong reasons (we are an Oracle business partner), I def'ly got to see all the new features with deep technical explanations and even examples; pretty neat stuff from IBM I must say. I looked at the What's New Guide that was referenced in other comments before buying this book, hoping to save a buck. Too bad they don't have a review forum for that book, horrible. All marketing fluff. Don't bother trying to find it -- it will only make you mad. Buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: It would be a MUCH better book with a different title
Review: While this work may be "The Official Guide" it is a long way from complete or authoratative. It is much more of an overview than a guide. It is an excleent overview or enhancements book for readers with a technical background.

I found the book useful as a new DB2 user but what I had purchased the book for was to learn DB2 and it was incomplete for that purpose.