Rating: 
Summary: Excellent resource for Java programmers who want to use JDBC
Review: A very well written and useful book. Contains all I needed to know to begin Java database programming. Caters well for the terminally impatient like me. Having got started with a simple Java application that connected to a database, I found the book continued to be useful as I returned to hone my skills.
Rating: 
Summary: good book for learning how to write a db or driver
Review: First of all, I was not troubled by the writing style or any of the other things some of the previous reviews mentioned. For those of you who complained about the amount of source code in the book, I would just say that while the book is largely source, it is there for a reason. It would be really hard to explain the book if the code were not there. I suppose he could have asked us all to download the code, but I would have been *less* likely to buy the book if I knew I had to print everything out myself. (And yes, when I am learning, I like to see the code written out on paper - I don't like taking my laptop in the car to read, but I do enjoy the portability of a book. But I suppose that's a whole other debate.)Anyway.... this is a great book for learning how to write your own DB. I have been meaning to write this review for a long time. I have checked this book out of my local university library at least 3 times, and I finally am going to bite the bullet and just buy the thing! No more worries if it will be stolen or "lost" by another student. There are a lot of books out there that will show you how to code SQL and how to work with drivers. This is one of the few books that shows you how to make your own database and how to make your own drivers. This knowledge is indispensible to people who think they know everything about databases already. One of my biggest accomplishments in my master's program was being able to say that I wrote my own database. This book helped!! Now that I am a PhD candidate, I plan to use this book whenever I have to teach a database class in the future. I agree with the previous reviewers who said to put out a new edition though! This is the only reason I did not give this book 5 stars. A lot has changed in Java over 4 or 5 years since the first edition came out. I would like to see some newer Java features integrated into the product, and especially see those explained in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Best Java Database book out there.
Review: Greetings. I first read this book in 1997. I read several books on the market back then, but this was the best. It saved my a**. I had a little trouble, email Brian Jepson, and got an answer. Since then I have emailed other authors for quick questions and have not gotten a response. I just looked up this book on amazon to see if there was a new edition so I could update my bookshelf, unfortunately Brian has not updated this book. Brian, if you are listening, DO IT AGAIN!! I have read many many books over the last 5 years -- this is still the best java db book out there, period.
Sean
Rating:
Summary: Re: Incoherent book
Review: I'm upset at this (anonymous) review that resorts to a personal attack, in which it claims certain aspects of my writing style are attempts to prove I'm "with it". Perhaps the writing style is not for everyone - I admit that this book meanders more than it should at some points, but this was done in an attempt to liven up what could have been a dull topic, and not to prove whether I'm with it or not. The assertion that the sample code won't compile upsets me quite a bit, as well: not only have I created Jepstone.net to offer support and discussion forums for readers of my books, but since the book's release, I've been updating the example code to keep current with the latest changes in Java and JDBC. If that reader truly has a problem with the example code, he or she should post a message to the discussion forums, and the problem will be remedied quickly. - Brian Jepson
Rating: 
Summary: Incoherent book
Review: Is this a Java database programming book or just a plain database programming book? I could not quite catch the difference. There is almost nothing in this book other than endless listing of source code (about 80%???). Certainly, I can find a better JDBC book than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: not useful if you want to build db-applications
Review: Jepson understands the topics of JDBC very well. It might be interesting for the one or the other to see how you can develop your own JDBC-driver as well as a little database. If you are looking for a tutorial how to build database-applications this book is the wrong choice.
Rating:
Summary: Great book to learn SQL programming in Java
Review: The author really gets into the basics and explains how an SQL engine works, how to use JDBC drivers and even how to write JDBC Drivers. All of it was written straightforward and easy to understand. Great book!
Rating:
Summary: Can be interesting, but don't believe the title
Review: This book is subtitled "Master Next Generation Web Database Techniques", so you might be forgiven for thinking that it has something to do with the web, or HTML, or distributed computing. No such luck. What you really get is mostly a collection of annotated source code listings for a simple SQL interpreter and database using plain text files, padded out with one or two chapters of introduction to SQL and JDBC. If you are interested in how an SQL database might be written, or you want to provide an SQL/JDBC interface to some plain text files then it could still be a ueful book, but I can't give a good review to any book which so wildly misrepresents itself.
Rating:
Summary: Can be interesting, but don't believe the title
Review: This book is subtitled "Master Next Generation Web Database Techniques", so you might be forgiven for thinking that it has something to do with the web, or HTML, or distributed computing. No such luck. What you really get is mostly a collection of annotated source code listings for a simple SQL interpreter and database using plain text files, padded out with one or two chapters of introduction to SQL and JDBC. If you are interested in how an SQL database might be written, or you want to provide an SQL/JDBC interface to some plain text files then it could still be a ueful book, but I can't give a good review to any book which so wildly misrepresents itself.
Rating:
Summary: Useful, authoritative and idiosyncratic
Review: This is an extremely useful and timely overview of database issues when the language is Java as well as a cookbook of solutions. Jepson understands the subject very, very well and swoops around the material with joyous abandon (one example from the table of contents: "The Banshee Screams for Database Meat"). The book includes source to tinySQL in Java and describes the gory details of creating a JDBC driver and accessing it from Java.The source is available online and Jepson makes himself available by email. Reading the book is very much like having a conversation, distractions , intellectual toys and all, with a brilliant programmer. He knows his stuff; but will you suffer through examples featuring Rita, Maxwell Edison and Mr. Kite just because Mr. Jepson is listening to the Beatles as he writes? That's the only reason this excellent book is not a 10 IMHO.
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