MySQL

First I got started with the mysql through the online documentation avilable at mysql's website, which is written and being maintained by Paul Dubois.After that I decided to buy the book, and I was very satisfied with my decision. Below I am listing several evaluative criterias that indeed make the book ( and the author, as well) the best choice available thus far:1) Great for beginners: To understand how to keep a grade book, you don't need huge brains(I hope so). That's exactly what Paul starts his book with, and makes his way through to some RDBMS terminologies that you won't even notice. 2) From the simplest to more advanced... Such books make the learning for beginniners piece of cake, and for experienced ones a lof of fun. The book's focus is on couple of tables that you build in the first chapter, and keep manipulating throughout the book. Paul never forgets about those tables. Even in the Second section of the book (Using MySQL Programming Interfaces), he teaches you to write applications using C, Perl and PHP to manipulate them. Since you build them all together with Paul, you have more understanding of what you're doing. Of course, by the end of the book it gets advanced, which makes it the right choise for advanced programmers as well.3) Great references Oh yes. Awesome appendixes. Listings of all the functions, keywords, syntaxes are available (in alphabetical order). Also seperate appendixes for Perl DBI API, C API and PHP API makes it even more useful4) Easy language. This is deginitely important. Even though the books are in english, not all of them gurantee you comprehension. Sometimes you might find the lingo of the book of too high a level, or even vice versa. None of those are the cases with the MySQL book. Paul uses plain english and switches to RDBMS lingo whenever he thinks it is appropriate.5) The book is definitely from an expert. You better don't doubt it! Since Paul is the one in charge of the official documentation, who else could tell you more about the subject?6) Still got the gap? Let him fill it... Another thing that pleased was the fact, unlike other aUtHoRs, it is not hard to get hold of Paul in mysql mailing list. He is kind enough to answer the questions, and/or contribute to the discussions about the subject. If you are interested with learning MySql, I want you to buy the book, because there're no other books better than this one so far. Also, support for such authors is important.

I read a lot of computer books both as part of my day job (unix sysadmin) and on the side (wrote 2 computer books). Normally I'm not moved to write nice things about the competition, but this book is truly impressive.The organization of the chapters is logical, proceeding from introductory to advanced topics in clearly defined stages. The author thankfully resisted the current trend of giving the chapters cutesy names that communicate nothing. The writing is clear and concise. The indexing is superb. The coverage of the subject matter is unbelievably complete, encompassing not only MySQL and general database theory, but also almost every other aspect of database programming.In the six months I've been working with it I've never been unable to find the answer to a MySQL question in this book. Indeed, the Appendices are so good that I have found answers in here when the books I was reading on PHP and the Perl DBI turned out to be wrong.MySQL is a very impressive achievement in all respects.

Just got the book two days ago and have not put it down except to read "Building Database Applications on the Web Using PHP3." (another great buy.)I am new to SQL and this book is something worth buying. It is written for both techies and non-techies, and if you have the desire to learn MySQL, buy this book. It is the most concise and well written book on the language ever. Make sure you block out a chunk of time, because once you start reading, you will not put this book down. It fills the gap where other books fail. The tutorial gets you up to speed very quickly (VERY) and you will be building databases within the first 1/2 hour of opening the book. I buy an average of 5 or so books a week and I guarantee that most of them will be covered with dust before I put this book down.If you have the desire to learn on your own and want to learn MySQL...BUY THE BOOK! Don't wait! Sell something if you have to, get a second job. Whatever it takes, you can not be without this book!

I have purchased many books on SQL. I USUALLY purchase books (I own over 30) from Oreilly, as I did with their MySql/MSQL book which was absolutely NOTHING in comparison to the MySQL book by Other New Riders. I really must say this book is PERFECT. It covers EVERY major topic. It is SUPERBLY written, both novices and experts alike can easily learn, follow, and understand this book. It's an extraordinarly effective tutorial, learing guide, and reference. It gives clear, easy to follow instructions and examples on everything, and anything you need to do in reguard to databases. I give this book my HIGHEST possible recommendation. This book was worth every single penny I paid for it.

I've never reviewed a book before, but was driven to write one for this book.I cannot speak for a lay audience, but suspect that the tutorial will help bring anyone up to speed. For someone who is familiar with MySQL, however cursorily, this book is perfect. It's not a question-answer format, but simply superbly written prose. There is a reference section in the back, most every topic of interest is covered. There are detailed programming interface discussions for Perl::DBI, C, and php. If you want to install MySQL onto a box, have MySQL on a box, or want to optimize your databases and queries, buy this book. It's the best computer 'tome' I've ever read, kudos to the author.