Databases Books

RMAN is the present and the future of Oracle solution for backup.
It has a simple concept, but a great variety of commands, by this way, as a solution for all the complexity inside the RMAN solution, Oracle Database 10g RMAN Backup & Recovery come as a special "friend" to help us discovering all posibilities inside Oracle RMAN software.

I had no idea about backup and recovery but after reading this book and trying out the examples, I can say with confidence I can recover a RMAN backed database. Written extremly well!!! One of the good technical boooks I have read....

We had to install and configure Oracle10g 4 node RAC with ASM+FLASHBACK and implement backup/recovery procedures using RMAN and Veritas Netbackup. This book covers everything I need to know in depth.

I had bought his book on Oracle 9i RMAN Backup and Recovery...
And very much impressed with the technical details and examples given in the book... Same way, the book on 10g also excels in technical depth and details...

Backup and Recovery is one of the most critical tasks that a DBA has to perform. Sadly, it is also one of the most misunderstood. RMAN should be the tool of choice for backup and recovery for Oracle databases. There is so much that can be done with RMAN.

What Robert and Matthew do is break it down piece by piece. There is a great intro and they build on that in subsequent chapters. If you want to link RMAN directly with your backup software (i.e. Veritas, EMC, Legato, etc..) then the authors show you how. I used the Veritas piece to link RMAN in and it worked flawlessly. They go over the latest features including block changing files (for faster incremental backups), merging level 1 and level 0 backups (for faster recoveries without the overhead of backing up the whole database), and even cover what the flash recovery area is and how to use it. There is so much great material packed in this book. Yeah, you can try and read Oracle's docs, but rather than just show you how to do it, the authors also teach you why to do it.

You can read this book chronologically or use it as a reference. The authors writing style make this book a great joy to read. They also include a lot of great examples in case you like to learn by seeing.

I would highly recommend this book if you are an Oracle DBA, whether you use RMAN or not. Afterall, RMAN is what you should be using :).

It is one of the best books on SQL I have read. This is a good book not only for those who want to use SQL Anywhere but for all SQL Afficianodos. It is both comprehensive and compact. I found this book useful while trying to understand Mobilink. I recommend this book without any hesitation to anyone who wants to understand how everything works in SQL Anywhere.

In a word: Awesome! This is the definitive book on Sybase SQL Anywhere 9. If you use this at work, especially in a replicated environment, then you MUST have this on your shelf.

This is a down-to-earth, no-holds barred approach to dealing with the good/bad/indifferent aspects of SQL Anywhere Studio 9. I am a data architect for a company that manages over 4,600 remote databases and this book has single-handedly helped me solve issues we have been having for months.

The author, Breck Carter, is a man who has been in the trenches with "the rest of us" to solve some of the most vexing data management problems. The solutions are as simple as they are elegant.

Written in a "real-world" tone, this book gets to the nitty-gritty of 99% of problems. The chapter on Mobilink replication is worth the price of the book alone as it goes into extreme detail on the how/whens/whys of moving data around and how to best utilize this impressive feature.

Highly Recommend!

Some of the documentation in this book is included no were else besides Sybase official docs. Given that "official docs" have such a dry reputation, I was happy to find this book. Indeed it is much easier to read, and contains lots of important information for configuring and programming in your SQL environment.

This book is packed with pertinant, in-depth info. The author does not have an overly-wordy style, so there is no inflated page-count.

This book is simply a must-to-have for db-developers; it presents a complete and compact reference for experienced developers as well as it offers a comprehensive immersion in SQL Anywhere to beginners and less experienced ones.

If I had to use only one word to express my opinion about this book I would just say: RELIEF. Relief of not getting drowned again in hundred of pages of irrelevant topics, misleading information, decorative pictures and tools descriptions.

I highly recommend this book to application programmers, as myself, accustomed to flirting with different db-engines but still seeking a solid understanding relational db paradigms.

I started using Sybase SQL Anywhere before Sybase owned it--when it was called The "Watcom" Database Engine. "SQL Anywhere Studio 9 Developer's Guide" is an outstanding reference. The book was written by someone who obviously has a great deal of experience using SQL Anywhere Studio to build real-world software solutions. Highly recommended.

XQuery has its logical side, but it's pretty easy to forget all the syntax rules and nuances associated with it. Without this book, I'd easily be cursing XQuery and everything associated with it.

It was a great read to get started, but it's become an indispensable reference for day-to-day work and play. With the 30 or so sticky-notes poking out the top, I find myself constantly in this book looking for not just answers, but ways to better use XQuery efficiently in a maintenance-friendly manner.

This is a nice, comprehensive book written by someone highly qualified to talk about XQuery. The author, Priscilla Walmsley, was a member of the W3C XML Schema Working Group.

Now that XML is being added to database management systems, DBAs and database developers will need to know how to query that data. And they'll more than likely be using XQuery to do it. As such, this book would be a good way for database professionals to gain expertise on XQuery.

Walmsley's book offers a concise, yet in-depth tutorial on the XQuery language specification. After digesting these 25 chapters you'll have the knowledge required to program using XQuery to read your XML data. Whether you're coming from a relational and SQL background or you're an XML and XSLT coder, this well-written text will help you understand and write queries using XQuery.

The problem of this book is it doesn't give detailed information on how to implement X-Query on your computer. When you have Windows Vista, eXist doesn't work. Neither does WAMP. And unless you have heavy duty experience with SQL Server, this book is useless. The author of this book needs to include many more simple examples so that people like me can use the language. I might figure out how to use this someday, but it will be a long time before I do. That is so disappointing.

I needed to come up to speed with an XML database server (Mark Logic) and I found this book very useful for learning how to use XQuery. It was concise and provided many good examples. The presentation of chapters was somewhat episodic--you had to read the later chapters to find out how some of the topics turned out. This was probably due to the newness and complexity of the topic. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a chapter reorg for the 2nd edition.

In my case, the book covers only XQuery and does not cover the XQuery extensions and specifics of the XML database system I was using. Walmsley's book makes a great companion to the vendor documentation.

XML programmers and database users will find Priscilla Walmsley's XQUERY a specific, valuable reference which is based on the Xquery 1.0 standards and which offers a basic tutorial on specifications and programming with the query language base. Query writers should have some knowledge of XML basics to use this, and can quickly progress into the 'advanced' category using an overview and tour of Xquery which includes guidelines for working with different types of data and an A-Z reference to the program's functions.

I use Karen's ACT! for Dummies (2005, 2006, 2007) books as course materials for most of the classes I teach. Her books are well written, easy to understand and contain soem real life examples. She certainly helps me look good to my students. Thanks Karen!

Great Seller - This is one of my favorite book's - Too, Too Cool!

I want to thank you karen for the remarkable book, it is very easy and at the same time have everything in it . I enjoyed reading the book and hope you can write more, so many people in the IT industry will enjoy reading Books again. Please keep on the good work. God Bless you.

Book is easy to follow, very helpful to a beginner. It would probably be helpful to an experienced user but I am so new to this that I have not even looked into advanced features. I highly recommend this book.

Don't be fooled by the "Dummies" title - Wiley Publishing has a very successful formula that they've developed for this series. As much as I'd like to think that you're going to read this book from cover to cover, alas, it's meant to be a reference book that you can pick up and instantly find the answer to your most pressing questions. I've covered the most commonly used of the ACT! features and included many of the "gotchas" that I've encountered over my many years of ACT! consulting. I've given you easy, step by step instructions that don't require you to work with "pretend" contacts. Most importantly, I've tried to infuse the book with a sense of humor because to me learning a software program should be fun and non-threatening.

Karen Fredricks
Author, ACT! 6 for Dummies
Author, ACT! 2005 for Dummies

The book is designed to offer a good list of places to scuba relying on the use of dive operators - it lists many. Its use for a couple who just wish to go alone (in a buddy system, of course) is limited, since the locations are not exactly defined. The book also offers a lot of advice as to many facets of diving in these areas. In general, it is an excellent book with the caveat of not giving exact coordinates nor reference points by which to find the specific spots.

This book is very thorough on the coverage that I was looking for. I recommend this book. Actually, I couldn't find any other books that covered Puerto Rico.

This is one of the most thorough and up to date dive travel books I've ever read. We used a lot of the information on diving and related material on our recent trip to P.R. and found it very helpfull and accurate.

Once again we have an excellent and very useful publication aimed at amateur and professional diver alike. This is a true guide which concentrates on providing all the relevant and peripheral information that any Scuba Diver will want to know in respect of any of the Caribbean destinations covered. The maps and diagrams are particularly useful - and very easy to follow.

We live in an age where diving instructors and dive guides "have" to know what they are doing and it is interesting to see those professionals are using this book and not any of the glossy alternatives. Sadly, we also live in an age where many diving publications fall short. Too much false information - and even total lack of information is hidden behind excellent underwater photographs as publisher after publisher seeks to beguile, confuse and even mislead the potential buyer. Not so with this book!

My direct experience has been to find this series of books contain exactly the information divers require before during and even after their trip. Very well written, it includes all the general information on diving, facilities, climate, sea, regulations, boats, cruise liners, resorts, hotels, flora, fauna, shipwrecks, photography and safety. It then moves on to cover each of the target Caribbean countries which are the main subject of the book before concluding with a Glossary, Bibliography and Accident and Emergency Information.

We can all find pretty pictures on the internet - without even having to pay to see them. Information, however, especially reliable information, is much harder to find. If you are contemplating a trip to any of the countries featured in this book, you will find all - and I do mean "ALL" the information you require right here. That might be at the expense of some pretty pictures - but hey, once you get there, you can take those yourself.

In summary, once again we have "A Complete Guide" - which is exactly what it says on the cover.

NM

I have been meaning to review this book for some time as it is one of the most thumbed books on our book shelf. My wife and I run a charter yacht in the Virgin Islands and many of our guests are keen divers. We bought The Complete Diving Guide for our own use initially but it has since become part of the yacht's library as our guests find it so useful and enjoyable to read. (as our copy is getting rather worn I'm pleased to say that many of them buy their own copy after having seen ours). It is rare to find a book that is so comprehensive and which presents a vast amount of information in such a readable manner. In particular we find the island and dive site maps useful along with the descriptions of the dives and the underwater route maps. I can direct our guests at the tyupe of dive that I think they would enjoy and they can read about it beforehand. They can also choose the dive store they would like to use. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone planning to do some diving in the Virgin Islands (it even covers the Spanish Virgin Islands).

The authors have done an exceptional job of making the process of data modeling from requirements analysis to conceptual to logical very, very clear. Even their coverage of seeminingly simple concepts like nomenclature explanations and expecially UML were very helpful. The sections on transformation, 3NF, and BI (including data warehouse, OLAP adn mining) were clear, and a great "how to". Given the state of BPM, SOA and BPEL this is a must have reference for anyone who is responsible for enterprise information and data.

I also am a reviewer of the book and an interested colleague. I've used this book since its first edition as my main reference on basic data modeling, and I have been happy to comment on its newer editions. This 4th edition improves on earlier ones by including the Unified Modeling Language (UML), my own first choice for a design language for data modeling. The chapter on the UML includes everything you need, but it keeps it as simple and straightforward as possible, making the material very accessible. The real contribution of the book is in the normalization chapter and in the excellent description and examples of n-ary relationships and the consequences of their multiplicities, a very-hard-to-understand corner of the data modeling world. The inclusion in this edition of material on OLAP and data warehousing is also welcome, though very limited in scope. Finally, moving the physical design material into a separate book makes this book much more cohesive and useful as a reference for data modeling.

This book is clear, concise, and to the point. The language is in such a way as to pack the maximum information into the minimum space and yet remain fully intelligible.
The techniques and methods described are top rate. If your desire is to not simply learn database design and implementation but to "understand" it, this is the book for you.

For those in Data Modeling, Data Architecture, and similar disciplines, I highly recommend this book ! An excellent discussion of database design and modeling, practices and techniques.

This book is now next to my desk as a reference text. It does a good job at explaining the basics of relational database models and how they fit into a modern business architecture. The authors obviously have a methodology that works for them and the chapters seem to be organized according to their methodology. They start with UML, analyze the model in UML for potential problems, then move into SQL, normalization at the SQL stage, and end with an example. It's nicely written and concise.

-Frank Cohen
http://www.xquerynow.com
http://www.pushtotest.com

Mr. Gunning has done it again!
Having studied under Phil Gunning and knowing the dept of his expertise this book brought to life real world experiences in a classroom like setting. As a DBA I found the Chapter#8 on "Tuning Buffer Pools" and Chapter #9 "The Optimizer" to be of great help to me personally. This book is a great reference material for any DBA faced with the challenge of daily performance. I was excited to read Mr. Gunning's explanation of the `Utilities" incorporated in DB2 V9. I would recommend this book for any DBA or DBM who needs an in-depth understanding of developing and monitoring DB2 V9.
DeWayne Stansell DBA

This is a great book for developers because covers pureXML and other features and great to for DBAs the chapter on monitoring is a must have when you are in trouble with your database

Just keep in mind that this book is focues on the LUW(Linux, Unix and Windows) version of DB2, I say this because a friend of mine bought for using with z/OS by mistake.

Mr. Gunning's expertise provided the information I needed about the newest version of DB2. Service Oriented Architecture, in Chapter 6, and XML, in Chapter 9, were clearly written and understandable.

I bought this book because I needed to get up to speed real fast on using the new XML data type and Developer Workbench, and Chapter 2, 3, 4, and 5 contained everything I needed to get started. I also liked the Chapter on the Optimizer and Monitoring and Performance. A good reference.

This book is a must have for anyone who develops application code or administers DB2 databases on the windows/unix/linux platform.

The chapter on understand the DB2 optimizer is required reading because it provides deep insight into how DB2 will go about getting the data out of your relational database. Understanding this is fundamental for performance in your application.

The chapters on monitoring and peformance tuning are also very insightful and relay the authors years of experience in a very straight forward manner. Using the methods described in this book makes it easy to put procedures in place to track the performance of your database over time, and to spot problems before they start.

This book is a "must have".

This book is amazing! . As a DBA , I keep on referring this book again & again . It has very useful information & can be used by anyone who wants a really good understanding of DB2

Cheers to the author for writing such a wonderful book!

This book excels in clarity , depth and the number of topics covered . The questions at the end of the chapters are helpful too .
Also , anyone preparing for the DB2 Certification ( for OS/390 ) would benefit from this .

DB2 for Z/OS and Os/390 Development for Performance (Volume 1&2
by Gabrielle Wiorkowski

This book is extremely helpful for all levels of DBAs, system programmers and DB2 developers. It is most comprehensive and includes all features of v.6 and v.7.
At our shop, we have always used Gabriell's book for all releases
of DB2. This particular edition is very helpful, in the sense it is a text book for all levels and all parts of DB2 world.
Anytime in question, we look it up in this book for answer.

I will recommend this book as a must for DB2 tech team.

I've believed for some time that Gabrielle Wiorkowski knows as much as, or more than, anyone outside of IBM's DB2 development team about DB2's use of indexes, optimization, and other aspects of performance. This book is based on what she has learned, her direct experiences, and the experiences of other DB2 professionals with whom she comes in contact. ... It is you, the administrator, database designer, or application developer who applies its capabilities wisely or unwisely. This book provides practical information of use to you today in your job environment. Marilyn Bohl, Vice President, Work Process Systems, San Jose, CA.

Working with DB2 from 1985 forces one to read many books.
Gabrielle's book is the best ever I've read (and use) for DB2 on OS/390 (Z/OS) platform.
Very good explanations, clarity of write and easy to find structure.
I have many other books, but this is my leading (by far) favorite.
If you ever wish to know DB2 - this is the book you must have.

I had no idea how to use dreamweaver. I purchased this book, went through it in a couple of days and now I can design a basic website without using those dreaded html codes. I highly recommend this book due to the fact that anyone can understand it. I'm now working through the Fireworks edition.

Dreamweaver 4 for Visual Learners is a user friendly manual packed full of information. There are tons of graphics and screen shots, and just enough text to explain everything thoroughly. I'm no Dreamweaver expert, and this book took me step by step through the basics; then some more advanced material without any of it going over my head. It will make a great reference for later on as well. Great manual Chris!!

I've read through several manuals learning different computer programs and none have helped me learn a program as fast as this book! The instructions and screen shots are clear and concise, and allow the user to focus on the actual work of creating a website. The author includes using the previous steps for extra practice before introducing the next skill(s). The spiral binding also allows the book to lie flat or be folded in half. A big advantage to users with small computer work areas. I recommend this book to everyone who wants to get started immediately. Visibooks are wonderful - thank you Mr. Charuhas. I'll definitely using your books in other subject areas!

I have been thru this book and used it to learn the basics of Dreamweaver... and I'm so glad I found it! Dreamweaver can be intimidating at first, and this book brought me understanding that only a visual book can do. I highly recommend it (and any of the other ...For Visual Learners books)!!!

As a computer training professional, I've read or reviewed dozens of training books/manuals and this is one of the most effective learning sources I've found. Mr. Charuhas takes the best training method available, visual learning, and incorporates it into a really well written training book. I would highly recommend this material to anyone interested in learning Dreamweaver in a down-to-earth and, more importantly, effective manner. Kudos to Mr. Charuhas.

Langdon and Poli do a fantastic job of summarizing the major theoretical results of genetic programming. The first chapter gives a quick and clear introduction to genetic programming. They continue with a comprehensive summary of previous research in schema theory, and then they present their exciting theoretical results. Their description of an exact schema theorem (microscopic and macroscopic) for GP is a bit dense, but they provide a good discussion of how to interpret these results. As a whole, this book is generally easy to follow, even with little prior exposure to genetic programming. Of course, this book is not intended to be a general introduction to genetic programming (one of John Koza's books would be more appropriate), but instead it is intended to present some of the theoretical foundations of the field.

This book was published in 2002 to provide a survey of the direction research had taken in the field of Genetic Programming. There is an explanation of what genetic programming is and how it is different from genetic algorithms in chapter 1(GP is a "generalization" of GA). Chapter 2 discusses the problems with the fitness landscape. Chapter 3 - 6 discusses various schema theory approaches and proofs. Chapter 6 has a great explanation of effective fitness.

There are numerous theorems and proofs in the book. There are informative examples of the max problem and the artificial ant (Santa Fe Trail) problems. Chapter 11 is about how GP convergences are a tricky matter and how subtrees can hide interesting incidences of convergence.

This is not an introductory text, it is intended for graduate level or higher readers. There is much theoretical work here and a limited background in this area will result in limited understanding of the material.

Langdon and Poli are both internationally recognized experts in Evolutionary Computation (EC) and, in particular, Genetic Programming. They have both contributed extensively to the theoretical "foundations" of GP and hence may speak with no small degree of authority about GP theory. As a physicist working in EC I like the balance that the authors have struck between mathematical rigor and understandable intuition. The book is not as rigorous as Vose's well known GA book. However, it is much easier to read. Neither does it take the "engineering" rule of thumb approach, as does Goldberg's book for instance. It covers very well recent important developments in the theory of GP and in that sense makes very good reading for anyone with a serious interest in EC theory. It is not for the novice, even though technically it is not a difficult book. It is really a research monograph and not a textbook. In that sense the title is a little bit misplaced. With the exciting direction the authors are pointing in I believe that in five years time another book of the same title should truly be able to lay out what are the foundations of GP theory and also show the theoretical unity that exists between the different branches of EC.

This book can be usefully read along with a companion text by the same publisher - "Introduction to Evolutionary Computing". Langdon and Poli provide a focused look, on the specifics of genetic programming. The maths treatment here is significantly more involved than the other book.

Foundations starts with what I suppose in this field is an obligatory section on the concept of a fitness landscape. A very useful metaphor of what you'll be attempting to do, as a researcher. However, the authors carefully point out the limitations of this idea. Notably that some spaces might have no natural metric.

The book then rapidly goes into the ideas of GP schemas and hyperschemas. Accompanied by a nice theoretical analysis of key performance goals like the rate of convergence in the GP search space. A solid offering to the GP researcher.

Currently working as an undergraduate student in Ann Arbor, Michigan as a Computer Science major I'm an intrigued by Genetic Programming alongside all motives of this in-depth field. I found this book to be a modest account of what is new and theoretical within this field. Expressing advanced features with a short introduction; this book is profoundly for somebody with somewhat of a background. A recommended start in the computer evolutionary field is:
An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms [1996], by Melanie Mitchell.