Useful Books and Software

Now available in an updated second edition, our very popular "SQL Pocket Guide" is a major help to programmers, database administrators, and everyone who uses SQL in their day-to-day work. The "SQL Pocket Guide" is a concise reference to frequently used SQL statements and commonly used SQL functions. Not just an endless collection of syntax diagrams, this portable guide addresses the language's complexity head on and leads by example. The information in this edition has been updated to reflect the latest versions of the most commonly used SQL variants including:

Oracle Database 10g, Release 2 (including

the free Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (XE))

Microsoft SQL Server 2005

MySQL 5

IBM DB2 8.2

PostreSQL 8.1 database

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Author: Jonathan Gennick
Release Date: 2006-04-17
ISBN/EAN: 0596526881 / 9780596526887

New Price: $7.63 / Used Price: $3.31

With the Web extending into every nook and cranny of modern life, there are plenty of folks out there who have data storage issues that need to be addressed-Ñbut no million-dollar budgets to do so. Luckily for them, there's MySQL. Offering Oracle-like power without the huge price tag, MySQL offers a networked database that can be accessed in numerous ways-Ñall of which are described in this invaluable reference. In the clear, concise language readers have come to expect from this popular series, this Visual QuickStart Guide demonstrates how to interact with MySQL--both directly and through various popular programming languages (for example, PHP, Perl, and Java). Step-by-step instructions, practical examples, plenty of screen shots, and loads of useful tips and tricks make learning MySQL a breeze, even for novice programmers. Focusing first on the underlying conceptsÑWhat are databases? What is MySQL?--author Larry Ullman then proceeds through installation, administration, database design, and more before tackling MySQL's use with various programming languages, database programming techniques, and utilities. Web developers, system administrators, programmers, and just about anybody who uses databases will find themselves turning again and again to this essential guide.

New Price: $4.69 / Used Price: $0.40

• Modeling data with the ActiveRecord library
• Setting up views with ActionView and RHTML templates
• Building your application's logic into ActionController
• Testing and debugging your Rails application
• Building responsive web applications using JavaScript and Ajax
• Ensuring that your application is security and performs well
• Deploying your application with Mongrel and Apache
• Using Capistrano to automate deployment
• Using the many Rails plugins
• Working with graphics

New Price: $11.43 / Used Price: $3.76

This is the official guide to passing the two MySQL certification tests for MySQL 5, the long-awaited major revision of MySQL. The number of MySQL certification exams taken has doubled in the last six months.

 

Certcities.com lists the MySQL certification as one of the top 10 certifications to grow in 2005. MySQL professionals need a way to distinguish themselves from the vast majority of database administrators and developers. With more than 4 million active installations, MySQL is the world's most popular open-source database. Known for its speed, reliability and case of use, MySQL has become a low-cost alternative to expensive database systems such as Oracle, IBM and Microsoft. MySQL AB has aggressively improved the feature set of MySQL with MySQL 5, making it more suitable for enterprise-level applications and uses. The MySQL certification tests, available at over 3,000 PearsonVUE testing centers, is a key component of this enterprise growth strategy, establishing a base level of skills for database users, administrators and programmers.

 

The MySQL Core Certification is aimed at the database user who wants proof of his or her abilities in such fundamental areas as SQL, data entry and maintenance, and data extraction. The MySQL Professional Certification test is designed for the advanced user who wants to prove his or her knowledge in such areas as database management, installation, security, disaster prevention and optimization. Both tests are thoroughly covered in the MySQL 5.0 Certification Study Guide. Written by Paul DuBois, the leading author of books on MySQL topics, and reviewed for technical accuracy by MySQL AB, this book is the fastest, most reliable way for MySQL users, developers, and administrators to prepare for either of the MySQL tests.

New Price: $36.17 / Used Price: $36.57

The implementation of stored procedures in MySQL 5.0 a huge milestone -- one that is expected to lead to widespread enterprise adoption of the already extremely popular MySQL database. If you are serious about building the web-based database applications of the future, you need to get up to speed quickly on how stored procedures work -- and how to build them the right way. This book, destined to be the bible of stored procedure development, is a resource that no real MySQL programmer can afford to do without.

In the decade since MySQL burst on the scene, it has become the dominant open source database, with capabilities and performance rivaling those of commercial RDBMS offerings like Oracle and SQL Server. Along with Linux and PHP, MySQL is at the heart of millions of applications. And now, with support for stored procedures, functions, and triggers in MySQL 5.0, MySQL offers the programming power needed for true enterprise use.

MySQL's new procedural language has a straightforward syntax, making it easy to write simple programs. But it's not so easy to write secure, easily maintained, high-performance, and bug-free programs. Few in the MySQL world have substantial experience yet with stored procedures, but Guy Harrison and Steven Feuerstein have decades of combined expertise.

• MySQL stored programming fundamentals -- tutorial, basic statements, SQL in stored programs, and error handling
• Building MySQL stored programs -- transaction handling, built-in functions, stored functions, and triggers
• MySQL stored programs in applications -- using stored programs with PHP, Java, Perl, Python, and .NET (C# and VB.NET)
• Optimizing MySQL stored programs -- security, basic and advanced SQL tuning, optimizing stored program code, and programming best practices

A companion web site contains many thousands of lines of code, that you can put to use immediately.

Guy Harrison is Chief Architect of Database Solutions at Quest Software and a frequent speaker and writer on MySQL topics. Steven Feuerstein is the author of Oracle PL/SQL Programming, the classic reference for Oracle stored programming for more than ten years. Both have decades of experience as database developers, and between them they have authored a dozen books.

New Price: $17.17 / Used Price: $16.90

In "PHP Hacks," author Jack Herrington wrings out his 20 years of code generation experience to deliver hands-on tools ranging from basic PHP and PEAR installation and scripting to advanced multimedia and database optimizing tricks.

On the practical side of things, "PHP Hacks" helps you develop more robust PHP applications by explaining how to improve your database design, automate application testing, and employ design patterns in your PHP scripts and classes. In the category of "cool," Herrington explains how to upgrade your Web interface through the creation of tabs, stickies, popups, and calendars. He even examines how to leverage maps and graphics in PHP. There's also a bounty of image and application hacks, including those that show you how to:

Integrate web sites with Google maps and satellite imaging

Dynamically display iPhoto libraries online

Add IRC, SMS, and Instant Messaging capabilities to your Web applications

Drop the latest Wikipedia dictionary onto your Sony PSP

Render graphics and user interfaces with SVG, DHTML, and Ajax

Whether you're a newcomer or an expert, you'll find great value in "PHPHacks," the only PHP guide that offers something useful and fun for everyone.

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Author: Jack Herrington
Release Date: 2005-12-12
ISBN/EAN: 0596101392 / 9780596101398

New Price: $16.78 / Used Price: $6.38

Each chapter in the book identifies a task to be accomplished that is necessary for the construction of the site. It suggests a way to go about the required programming, and finally implements a solution based on the discussion. The ideas that are presented and the code that is written are indicative of the way real world tasks are being completed.

Publisher: Wrox Press
Authors: Chris Lea, Mike Buzzard, Dilip Thomas, Jessey-White Cinis
Release Date: 2003-03
ISBN/EAN: 1861008279 / 9781861008275

New Price: $51.41 / Used Price: $13.17

Backup & Recovery starts with a complete overview of backup philosophy and design, including the basic backup utilities of tar, dump, cpio, ntbackup, ditto, and rsync. It then explains several open source backup products that automate backups using those utilities, including AMANDA, Bacula, BackupPC, rdiff-backup, and rsnapshot. Backup & Recovery then explains how to perform bare metal recovery of AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Mac OS, Solaris, VMWare, & Windows systems using freely-available utilities. The book also provides overviews of the current state of the commercial backup software and hardware market, including overviews of CDP, Data De-duplication, D2D2T, and VTL technology. Finally, it covers how to automate the backups of DB2, Exchange, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL-Server, and Sybase databases - without purchasing a commercial backup product to do so.

For environments of all sizes and budgets, this unique book shows you how to ensure data protection without resorting to expensive commercial solutions. You will soon learn to:

• Automate the backup of popular databases without a commercial utility
• Perform bare metal recovery of any popular open systems platform, including your PC or laptop
• Utilize valuable but often unknown open source backup products
• Understand the state of commercial backup software, including explanations of CDP and data de-duplication software
• Access the current state of backup hardware, including Virtual Tape Libraries (VTLs)

New Price: $28.46 / Used Price: $26.01

Pro MySQL is the first book that exclusively covers intermediate and advanced features of MySQL, the world's most popular open source database server. Whether you are a seasoned MySQL user looking to take your skills to the next level, or youre a database expert searching for a fast-paced introduction to MySQL's advanced features, this book is for you.

The first part of this book discusses topics related to design and development. Topics include transaction processing and indexing theory, benchmarking and profiling, and advanced coverage of storage engines and data types. The authors also delve deep into the MySQL source code and system architecture at a level you won't find anywhere else. Essential advanced SQL is also covered, with discussion of subqueries, derived tables, and joins. These concepts are demonstrated in a range of situation-specific examplesfrom dealing with hierarchical data to performing Geographic Information System (GIS) examples with just MySQL. This section also covers MySQL 5's new enterprise features like stored procedures, triggers, and views.

The latter part of this book devotes itself to administration topics. Topics include MySQL installation and upgrading, user administration, database backups, replication, and clustering. You'll also learn about the new data dictionary features available in MySQL 5.

New Price: $31.11 / Used Price: $30.75

New Price: $29.23 / Used Price: $34.75