Databases Books

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.

It's a very good book but is very dense and glosses over some implementation details. It may not be appropriate for the hobbyist or practitioner without supporting materials or books. Requires knowledge of discreet math and all of your basic data structures especially trees and balanced trees. One shouldn't expect to pick up this book and implement the data structures even in chapter one without some research and consternation. I would recommend purchasing the dutch book in conjunction with this volume.

It is hard to imagine any single person creating such a comprehensive, detailed, and beautiful book. Dr. Samet, do you ever sleep?! This book is not only far and away *the* reference for spatial and metric data structures, it covers many related topics as well -- and sets a very high bar for technical works of any type. A codification of all the work in an incredibly important area that is -- can you imagine? -- just plain *fun* to read.

The best possible scenario for a reader buying a tech book is to have

1) a single author, rather than an "editor" so the conceptual presentation and perspective of the product is consistent throughout

2) an author that knows the field inside out and can speak and think about it naturally with no hint in the presentation that he or she has hit upon a topic they're shaky with, and needs to resort to "high concept hand waving" to skate over the subject.

3) an author whose command of language is first rate - precise without being pedantic, and whose tone and level of exposition remains consistent throughout.

4) an author who spares himself nothing in terms of effort, cuts no corners and leaves nothing out for the student to "fill in" when explaining difficult concepts.

In this book, you get all that and more.

It's an encyclopedia of multi-d DS, written by a top researcher in the field, and addresses the subject matter at every level, from the panoramic to the implementation details. This book is on par with Jim Gray's near-perfect Transaction Processing.

If you think you don't need to know the subject matter in this book, you might want to think again. If you're developing anything that needs to find, index or classify information of any sort, graphic, text or otherwise and you're developing the basic technology, then this book is going to pay you the following dividends:

-save you time by getting you firmly grounded in the field,
-confirm and elevate your existing approach,
-make you aware of approaches, concepts and results that you just can't live in ignorance of and succeed.

Hanan Samet, the world-reknown authority on multi-dimensional data, has written a comprehensive and stunningly beautiful book. The illustrations that appear in the margins of almost every page serve to wonderfully augment the text and convey the essence of the topic under discussion. If you enjoy the clarity and broad coverage of Knuth's classics, or the elegance and wonder of Tufte's monographs, you will love this book.

Samet has distilled a lifetime of work understanding the algorithms of others and inventing major new algorithms and data structures into this very readable survey. The annotated bibliography and multiple indexes are amazing accomplishments in their own right. The book is very reasonably priced, making it accessible. This delightful book deserves to be on the bookshelf of every computer science scholar and programmer. X. Hao is right: this is truly a masterpiece.

The most complete book on the subject to date. In addition, to the huge amount of information covered, it also contains a thorough bibliography with over 2000 entries. The author uses an algorithmic approach with plenty of pseudo-code without resorting to complicated mathematical formulae. Clear explanations are given with more than 450 figures illustrating the ideas. The result is a wonderful place to explore spatial, multidimensional, and metric data structures on one's own or as part of a class. It has more than 1200 exercises that test the readers' understanding of the covered material, while many also develop the material in the text further. Solutions are provided to most of the exercises and also contain detailed pseudo code for many of the representations. The book is easily accessible to a wide range of readers who need not be programmers or computer scientists. Sample pages for the opening discussion in each of the book's four chapters are available at the publisher's web site.

This book goes far beyond Hanan Samet's previous books containing completely new material such as a thorough discussion of image- and object-based representations, as well as an entire chapter on high-dimensional and metric data representations which together comprise almost two-thirds of the book. In addition, the new book expands considerably the discussion of point data in his out of print book titled "The Design and Analysis of Spatial Data Structures," which though still contains some material that is not in the new book. The new book has no overlap with his other out of print book titled "Applications of Spatial Data Structures: Computer Graphics, Image Processing and GIS".

To summarize, this is another wonderful book from the most respected authority in the field. From novice to expert, everyone can learn something from this true masterpiece.

I have bought the first edition and now the second. I also have other books written by John Hunt. His writing is as always clear, sharp and insightful. It shows through in this book too. Whereas some other bible books would need 1,000 pages, John can do with much fewer ones. And yet it can be much more far reaching. Teaching solid OO concepts while bringing the best out of Java, this book is a pleasure to read. So much that it will keep you wondering why other books never manage to be so clear and at the same time so complete. You will not be sorry.

Object oriented programming was a difficult concept to understand after years of procedural languages. I was scared of being left behind and chose Java to take me into the 21st century. After flittering between several books I finally found John Hunt's book and am now making my living out of programming in this amazing and versatile language.

I went searching through the library for a book to help with my software engineering class project and eventually found Java and Object Orientation. All I've got to say is this book is incredible. The writing is clear and to the point. Example code turned out to very helpful (and useful). This book really helped to understand not only how to design good object-oriented programs, but also how to design a good object-oriented GUI. I recommend it to any computer science student or professional in search of a good book on Java and OO design and programming.

The book is very logical and i think is one of the best available.

I had bought a number of Java books before this one and been left confused by Java. This book clarified everything for me and now I understand Java - Excellent

This book is an excellent present for graduating high school seniors and a must-have for college students. In plain English, Patrick Lyons provides essential tools for the management personal finances. The author now works in finance, but he draws on the mistakes that he made while he was in college.

I'm a freshman at UNCG, and I just finished reading this book after my mom bought it for me. Even though much of it is ahead of me such as maintaining credit, investing, and retirement savings plans, it's really not that far away. After reading a book like this I'm really interested in saving up money to begin my own investment ventures with the help of others in order to get an early start. This book was a great, quick read, full of lots of useful information. I appreciate a book like this.

Reviewed by Regan Windsor for Reader Views (9/06)

In our society of immediate gratification and "buy now, pay later" philosophies there could not be a better time for a book based on financial responsibility. With teens and young adults inundated with the pressure of keeping up with their friends and neighbors, the marketing tactics of low payment options, and a general lack of knowledge about the complexity of financial decisions, we are witnessing an insurmountable amount of debt. Add to this the impact of the vicious cycle of credit card debt, the importance of saving for retirement as well as emergencies that arise, and the many financial decision we are faced with on a daily basis and you can soon relate to the intense stress finances cause many people both young and old.

Patrick Lyons has done a fabulous job to summarize and enlighten readers on the many financial issues facing society today. His book provides a quick and simple lesson in budgeting, a comparison of banks and credit unions, the importance and implications of credit and identity theft, business and financial basics (including writing resumes and business plans), the tough choices surrounding renting vs. owning in regards to both homes and vehicles, and the importance of incorporating investing and retirement planning early in life.

"Map Your Financial Future" should be a textbook in high school and university courses as required reading!! With the ever-changing financial world it adds value for all ages with a comprehensive resources section listing websites and addresses for a variety of finance and job related organizations, descriptions of the latest scams, and an important section outlining how to protect oneself from the fast growing problem of identity theft. Patrick Lyons has managed to turn a complex and often overwhelming subject into an easy-to-read, comprehensive format for all to reference, learn, and enjoy!

Map Your Financial Future: Starting The Right Path In Your Teens And Twenties by financial investment professional Patrick A. Lyons explains the developmental process of financial structure for young people concerned successful building and protecting their financial future. Addressing such important issues as the comprehensive constructs of developing a budget with room for fun; pumping up savings; mastering credit; avoiding bankruptcy and identity theft; catching onto scams; finding and pursuing dream jobs; launching a business; and eventual retirement, Financial Future provides an in-depth and practical perspective to achieving a life-long strategy for a productive and prosperous life. Financial Future is very highly recommended reading, especially for all young men and women searching for an informed and "user friendly" guide to financial stability and prosperity.

Patrick Lyons could easily have titled his book, "Everything You Wanted to Know about Finances But..." Though that phrase might now be overused, it nevertheless would tell you what Map Your Financial Future: Starting the Right Path in Your Teens and Twenties provides for all individuals who are fortunate enough to have a copy of this book placed in their hands!

I have never seen a book on this subject as comprehensive and complete. The presentation of the material is outstanding. The topic has been both well researched and reviewed by appropriate leaders in respective fields of the financial world. And, yet, the author has succeeded in ensuring that all information is interesting, easy-to-use, educational, and of great benefit to not only young people but to those of us, like myself, who have always been just a little intimidated by the whole business of making money beyond a basic salary.

Lyons quite simply begins at the beginning! He highlights that it is in the teen years when individuals start to think much more about money--money for clothes, money for the prom, transportation, etc. At the same time, he begins to explain the consequences of money management, explaining that splurging on $200 jeans will quickly leave you short of cash for other essentials or emergencies.

Willingly sharing from experience, Lyons explains how he got caught in the credit card trap very early--in high school! Everyone sooner or later experiences that thrill of being able to place a small plastic card down on the counter and buy something that they really want. Too soon that thrill is gone if that high school student must face his adult life already in debt! Also included are warnings about companies that prey on individuals having financial problems--a sad but true fact of life! Samples of actual "scam" e-mails received serve to add factual and representative depth to issues under discussion.

It was here that I gave my first applause to the author. While there is a brief mention of parents in the book, there is absolutely no link between the financial concerns of young people to the financial concerns of their parents. Lyons quickly highlights through his words and guidance that it is our responsibility to learn and handle and fumble down our own financial path. When we truly come to believe and accept this philosophy is the time we will want to sit down and really study with Patrick Lyons.

Dividing his book into four parts, Lyons takes us through opening bank accounts, establishing our own personal budgets, and basically learning how to handle our own money. Next he provides information as to how we can judiciously use credit cards, sharing his own horror stories to ensure readers understand the many pitfalls. Our most important acquisitions in our lives--higher education, cars, our home, and furnishings--are explored as options. Do we rent, lease, or enter into a mortgage? What impact does our credit rating have on these purchases? What about college expenses?

Lyons takes the electronic approach in his book--Excellent! Computers are no longer in our futures; they are in the "now" and we must be prepared to handle our financial issues online. Not only does Lyons teach us how to do this, but he also provides many specific sites to which we can immediately go for further information or guidance, or to proceed to open our first online bank account!

Investments and Retirement? Yep, it's there! Facts and figures show teens how much they can save through a small regular allocation. Different options for types of retirement programs¾those through employers as well as those available on a personal basis¾are thoroughly covered. Oftentimes, retirement programs are mandatory, so inclusion of this material will help ensure young people are adequately prepared to consider options to plan now for their future.

I cannot think of one thing about my financial life that is NOT covered in Map Your Financial Future. The things I coulda, shoulda done in the past, I now know more about because of this book...Hey, my future in investments is still an important part of my life in my sixties...and Lyons has taught me the basics so that I can now consider options I was too afraid to risk in my past!

Geared toward the young, Map Your Financial Future can be picked up and used no matter what your age. The book is well categorized, has shortcuts to remember at the end of each chapter and for later refreshers, a list of resources, and a complete index for quick reference. In fact, there is so much covered in this book that a review cannot do it justice!

Tips for teens will encourage and guide those new to personal finance and are geared to ensure a positive reinforcement to effective financial decisions for the present and the future. This book is more than a Must-Read! Plan to buy this book for each of your children, grandchildren and other family members so that they will be able to make notes and prepare for their own, personal path to their financial future!

Best Access VBA book I have ever bought, and I have bought several.

Callahan is a great author, knows his application, and is great at explaining something that looks complicated, making it very simple to start programming your access forms and objects, jumping right into the nitty gritty.

Useful even if you use Access 2003. I have not bought Access Vista, but it's as good and still functional for Access 2003.

I have worked with Access97 for several years now, but the person designing the databases worked strictly in macros. I had read enough of the developer's books to realize that isn't the proper way to go, but those books were over my head since I had never had any programming experience. This book fit the bill because it assumed I knew nothing else. I think if I master this book and the Access Macro & VBA handbook by Susann Novalis that I will then be ready for the developer's books. Novalis described it as: intro books - walking; intro VBA programming - running; developer books - flying. I really want my databases to fly, but I have to learn to run first.

Great tutorial with specific examples that walk you though customizing Access DBs with a business purpose in mind. Really great book, I highly reccommend it to anyone who is planning to learn how to build customized access applications. Worth every cent you spent on it.

Mr. Callahan provides a well-organized, easy-to-follow tutorial on application development in Microsoft Access 95, emphasizing Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This book is an excellent introduction to Access programming. Hands-on training is provided on the accompanying diskette.

I love this book. I learned more in 3 hours with this book than I did in a month of wading through various Access and VBA tomes. It is a perfect fit for the fairly technical Access user who is new to Visual Basic. Is your database dying under the weight of its macros? You need VBA and this is the book to teach it to you.

This book gives you the information you need when you need it. The authors will tell you what works, and what doesn't. You get the right answers, not just the Microsoft answers.

This book is more clearly defined than the Microsoft manuals. Buy it! It's money well spent!

Basically, a well-written, high level 'cliff notes' of the manuals. The target audience is casual and beginner users of SQLServer, not power users. Power users and budding DBA's should try SQL Server Unleashed by the same publisher, or SQLServer Secrets from IDG.

No other book on the market even comes close with respect to the DBA specific aspects of SQL server. All the rest are a mix of developer/DBA material. If you just want to know how to administer SQL this is definately the book for you!

As a SQL Server DBA I am often called upon to deal with 6.5 installations. All my training has been on 7.0 and while many of my peers may have gotten their start on 4.2 or 6.0 or 6.5, I learned on 7.0 and it is different. The 6.5 DBA Survival Guide has helped me to figure out how to do things in 6.5 that are done quite differently in 7.0. I have found it to be an excellent resource manual for making sense out of how things work. Online help in 6.5 is a great disappointment compared to 7.0 so a book like this is essential.

I don't know how to compare this book to others on 6.5 because I have not read any others. But my readings in this one have compared very favorably to what I have read in dozens of references dealing with 7.0.

I highly recommend this book not only for people that are wanting to learn networks, but also for networking professionals that need a handy reference guide. The book is an easy to understand basic introduction to networking with Nortel products. Kudos to the authors.

This book has already proven to be an invaluable resource. It's coverage of Nortel's data product line is thourough without being overwhelming to the novice networker. Nortel has got some great products out there and this book lives up to it's name by providing an excellent beginner's reference to those products. The world is a whole lot bigger than a Cisco-centric point-of-view might lead you to believe. I know my horizons have been expanded.

As a new manager working with Nortel products, I have found this book quite useful. It is not necessary for me to be able to configure a router. I do need to have a general understanding of the technology and the products. This book has accomplished both of these requirements for me. I would recommend this book to any person looking to gain a clearer understanding of networking in general. Although it does cover Nortel products, it covers the technology in general, so this book would be valuable regardless of whose product is being used.

Certainly one of the better beginners' guides out there. I was able to read most of it in one sitting. Found that the read was easy and less "mind numbing" than most computer/networking documents. I would recommend this guide to anyone that wants to get into networking, switches, & routers. Maybe you're just interested in understanding the fundamentals of Nortel networking or LAN/Wan technologies.... Get this book!

I received my copy of this book less than a week ago, and I am very impressed with the way the book was presented. I work in a "Cisco shop", but this book has offered insight to some of the wonderful offerings that Nortel has. I have read some of the other beginners guides out there, and can honestly say that this book is the easiest to understand and to follow. There are many boring books out there, this is NOT one of them. I read it cover to cover and will do so again. I highly recommend this book for all networking professionals. A must have!

This is inarguably the best book on straight ODBC API. Very lucid in its presentation and full of practical examples, every page is packed with all the essential information. This is really a serious book for the serious ODBC programmers and every tool and technique to get the job done can be found in this book. My only wish is that the authors would update this book from ODBC v2.0 to v3.0, perhaps also include a few chapters on OLEDB.

Buy it, this book contains many recommendations how to write programs using ODBC. Great book even for an experienced professional.

I had a situation come up where I needed to access an Oracle 7 stored procedure that returned output parameters and no results set. The Microsoft Visual C++ CRecordset classes don't handle that situation very well. The only solution was to drop down into ODBC API calls. I struggled until I found this book. It takes a lot of the mystery out of an extremely complex API. It pretty much rides around in my backpack everywhere I go now!

This hardback text is one of the best database API books that I have in my collection. It is well laid-out and it has examples.

This book is laid out in the order statements are used, with the necessary create and destroy statements together. It starts with connecting to the database, moves to statement execution, and rounds out with retrieving your results. There are of course necessary chapters on creating tables and dealing with transactions.

Each ODBC API call is accompanied with a list of appropriate parameters, return values, and errors.

ODBC Database API's are used in layers:

To Setup: Allocate Environment, Allocate Connection, Connect, ...

To Shutdown, reverse everything: ... Disconnect, Deallocate Connection, Deallocate Environment.

With the ODBC API you are given a whole lot of notes? But how do you combine those notes to write a symphony? This is the only book on the market which really shows you how. It consists of a detailed ODBC reference and highly useful sample code that shows how to take the API calls and make an application out of them.

The calls are grouped in logical sequences, each call is thoroughly described, and then an example of a program that uses that call (and other calls) is given.

The writing is extremely clear. The presentation is excellent. The book is extremely well organized.

It does not assume any prior knowledge of ODBC though it assumes you know how to program C.

C is the only language used in the book. The use of ODBC in other languages such as Visual Basic is not discussed.

Though this book is old; I cannot recommend it too highly. I've used it before and I'll use it again.

This is must reading for the serious marketing strategist. It's a prescient look at how companies will have to interact with customers in order to break through communication clutter and sustain growth. I plan to use it as a regular reference for strategic planning. The section on customer care is an important addition to the current thinking about marketing communications. I like that it lays out a disciplined process for creating, implementing and measuring effective programs that provide lasting value, not just tactical applications. The last chapter of checklists alone is worth the price of the book.

There are things in this book that you can't get elsewhere...at least I've never been able to find them. At our company, we've tried for years to successfully integrate our direct marketing and sales teams. We also want to lengthen the lifetime of our customers. The authors have been doing this for years and it shows in their case studies. If you can learn what's in this book and pull it off in your organization, you'll join the less than 2% minority of companies who have achieved this level of marketing excellence.

Good to see individuals in the marketing/advertising field who truly understand the complexity of people and organizations. Consistent with the most up-to-date approaches in the field of psychology (specifically psychotherapy research), the authors of this new book are quite persuasive in showing readers the enormous value in tailoring marketing approaches to the individual needs of different organizations. Moreover, they use statistics in a quite user-friendly way and they also offer a great and quite readable variety of case material to support their views. An engaging, persuasive, and innovative look at contemporary marketing. Well worth a look; you'll find yourself hooked.

Roman nails it. He preaches the golden rule - as applied to marketing. He shows how to use permission and precision timing to win at marketing. Even better, while he has a fortune 500 client list, the strategies he recommends are not just for the big guys. In fact they are easier for small companies or even individual salesman to use.

There are 3 keys to your success: Execution, Execution, Execution. Roman and Hornstein deliver - with precision - on the who, what, where, when and how of each. A must read. John Wanamaker would give it 'two thumbs up'

If you've come from the Oracle mainstream like me, you're probably not even aware of the breadth of open source apps and tools that can be used with the database. You may have had an inkling from the porting of Oracle to Linux, and Oracle's adoption of Apache and modules such as mod_perl, but that's only the surface.

When I first spied "Oracle and Open Source" by Andy Duncan and Sean Hull, I was so intrigued that I had to buy it. I couldn't believe that there was enough out there to write a book on. How wrong I was.

The two authors have done an excellent job of collecting information on:

* Programming environments, tools, languages (Python, Perl, Tcl, Tk)
* Database maintenance tools - including Orac, Oddis (Tk);
* Web-based monitoring tools for Oracle (such as Karma, Oracletool) and the network too (Big Brother)
* Plus Open Source Java apps (even the Java isn't open source itself), Gnome/GTK+ and more.

The book's aim is to introduce you to the rich range of technologies rather than being the definitive reference. It provides enough to get the tools installed and to set you on your way. And once you're up and running, the authors list the web pages and books that will take you to the next level. I never knew so much was available, but with the groundswell of support from the Open Source community as evidenced on the Internet and in this excellent book, I'm learning fast.

I find the content exciting and very educational. I am a developer in the corporate enviroenment and mainly use mainstreem software. But this book opens a new world of knowledge and experties. The URL's are up to date and you can learn and explore what ever you like in the book extensively. It is useful stuff and can bring new skills to your CV.

Found this book very useful and a real eye opener for those who like myself believed that all your Oracle goodies coming from Oracle Corp. A set of Open Source tools and applications described in this book is amazing. In particular, DB Prism/Cocoon is something that I jumped in right away. Whether you are DBA, developer or just a plain user of Oracle databases, you will find something that will benefit you/your business. Money well spent.

Oracle for quite some time now has embraced Open Source technology and as a result there are a number of Open Source tools that can be used with Oracle databases. This book takes a look at all of them. Starting off with a brief "history" of how Oracle and Open Source software have combined to build a number of Oracle applications, how Tcl, Perl, and Python have played a part and how to install them, building web-based Oracle apps, how Java, GNOME, and GTK+ also are involved with Oracle software, even a brief mention of how Linux & Oracle work together.

There is a wealth of good open source programs around for use with Oracle and this book gives a detailed explanation of how to install and use all of them to your advantage.

Hardly, and after taking a look at this book you will agree.

This book is perfect for anyone that wants to investigate the use of Open Source tools with their Oracle databases.

Finding out what is available, what is useful, what is available, where to get it and how to install it can take a great deal of time.

There is a lot of useful Open Source software available for use with your Oracle database, and though I am a proponent of Open Source software, I will readily admit that it is not all good.

I've given up in exasperation with more than one Open Source tool that would not compile, promised more than it delivered, or simply did not work.

There is though a large collection of Open Source tools that do work, and work well.

What Andy Duncan and Sean Hull have done is compiled an encyclopedia of Open Source tools that do work, and work with the Oracle database.

This book is much more than just a list of Open Source software. Sean and Andy tell you where to find each application, how to install and configure it, and how to use it.

Need to know the different connection methods for Oracle and JDBC? You'll find it here.

How about using Oracle, Apache and JServ? It's in this book.

I thought myself fairly well versed in what Open Source tools were available for Oracle, that is prior to seeing this book.

Some excellent Oracle specific tools are here that I was not aware of previously. In fairness to me though, I know of at least one not in the book. :)

Oracle & Open Source is a well thought out and well executed guide that belongs on the desk of every Oracle DBA, Architect and developer that wants to get a jump start on using Open Source software with Oracle.