Managing & Using MySQL: Open Source SQL Databases for Managing Information & Web Sites

This book was excellent for my need: I had used SQL before but didn't know much of anything about relational databases let alone MySQL. I am in the process of building a web application that reports survey data. It will tell you everything you need to know to get started with a small to mid-size database. Best of all, this book is well written, clear, the examples are GREAT and if you cut out the portions that are not relevant to you (for me this was security and the sections on PHP and Perl to name a few) you can literally learn all you need to know to get started in less than two weeks of studying for a few hours per day. Amazing value. The portions of the book on MySQL itself are not obviously dated, but the Python DB API interface has changed (to version 2.0) since this book was written.

This book covers MySQL at a good level of both depth and breadth. It weaves in a great combination of the history and philosophy behind design choices the MySQL development community made, and provides many examples of how to use MySQL in different languages.

The security chapter is well written and the reference section is comprehensive.

This book is an excellent reference book for MySQL. In fact I'd rate it the best MySQL reference out there when using MySQL as a coder. But if your looking for this book to tell you how to manage MySQL look on, this book is not for you! It's pretty weak in that area (as is the official MySQL documentation). But again, as a programmer I've found this book invaluable as a resource and would never be without it. I'd recommend it for novices and advanced users.

This book contains everything you will need to know about MySQL. As a MySQL DBA and developer, every time I've needed to look something up I've found it in this book. The chapter on security is comprehensive and the reference section is well-organized and concise.