MySQL

This book provides a good and clear overview of the subject of MySQL. This is a thick book that covers a lot of material. The last Chapters even provided introductions to application development with C, PERL and PHP. MySQL: The complete Reference really seemed like an actual complete reference. While it may not go to deep into every subject it does at least briefly cover each topic. Most of the focus was on SQL (Structured Query Language) though. There were only a few minor issues with this book aside from minor grammatical errors. For one thing, you would occasionally have to modify the sample tables before you could even start the exercise. Also, it would have been nice having more sample tables and data so I could follow along in more of the examples. Frequently, my result set wouldn't quite match the one in the book. Additionally, some of the command wouldn't even execute or would return an error message. Lastly, the chapters on development were pretty useless unless you are already familiar with one of the languages. But, I believe many of the above problems where because of version differences and the fact that I was running MySQL on windows. Although windows instructions were given as well the book examples were still more oriented towards a UNIX installation. Also, MySQL would be several versions newer on my computer. I believe that made a difference on some of the results as well. And for windows administration its better just to use one of the suggested GUI programs since many of the commands were difficult to run from the command prompt. So, I wasn't quite able to follow along with all the examples for one reason or another. Nevertheless, there were still plenty of quality examples I could follow along in. In addition, there was still a lot to learn from just reading through the material. Overall, this book works well as a reference or for working the Chapters in order. Even though the book's user level isn't indicated I believe it provides a fine introduction for a beginner.

I've learned a lot from Vaswani. I think he has done an outstanding job of cataloging and summarizing MySQL. You can go to the very good index and find a few references, then find what you need. To me, a good index is a top priority, & Vaswani did a pretty good job with the index. I did find a few subjects which need more depth, but most subjects were covered well enough to answer my questions. This 4 star rating is from the perspective of a beginning to intermediate web application developer. My purpose in buying this book was to get from a basic SQL knowledge (via a local community college Oracle class) to a better understanding of MySQL, to use with PHP etc. I am not a systems administrator and have no desire to be one. Just wanted to use MySQL on a couple business projects, and MySQL Complete Reference has definitely helped. I think it is an excellent choice for a beginning to intermediate LAMP or MySQL application developer. For an application developer, I highly recommend it.

Unlike most computer-related books, this one actually makes sense. The author has a no-nonsense approach to getting points across that most computer "authors" lack. It's very well organized and it's oriented to the beginner/intermediate audience. As a computer scientist myself, I found this book to quite welcoming and easy to find specific subjects in it. I was up and running in about three days. I created my first MySQL database and had it well-tuned in about a week or so, which is remarkable because I hadn't had any MySQL experience up to that point. Very solid, helpful book. Highly recommend.

I highly recommend anyone working with MySQL in any capacity to pick up a copy of MySQL: The Complete Reference; it's the most thorough, easy to follow, well laid out book on the subject I've seen (and I have several computer texts, many of which deal with MySQL in some way or other). Every facet of MySQL is covered: system admin, table types and structure, data types, basic to advanced SQL syntax. There are sections dealing with new features in v4.1 (still considered under development as of this writing) such as subqueries (which are going to be a huge help) and other new methods for handling data. My favorite parts of the book are the nested sidebars that have tricks and tips for doing things in one of several different ways, most of which I've never seen before.The most impressive feature of the book, in my opinion, is the balance between visual examples and technical detail. Usually you find a computer text is strong in one or the other; the author Vikram Vaswani has done an excellent job in illustrating his talent to show the end user exactly what he / she needs to see to understand the task at hand, not to mention his depth of knowledge on the subject. The book has MySQL's logo on it for a reason, people.I had personally put off purchasing a book on MySQL, instead relying on online documentation and tutorials. When I realized I wasn't moving in the right direction, I took a look at several available texts and chose this one. Even though I've been working with MySQL for over a year, after having read a majority of the book, I can honestly say I've easily doubled my understanding of syntax and the inner workings of MySQL in the past two weeks. Less than half an hour after reading the chapter on JOINS, I was able to construct a complex combination of self and left join that had been eluding me. I'm currently going through several tables and scripts, optimising table structure and syntax based on lessons learned. I only wish I bought two copies, as mine is already dogeared and worn from taking the trip back and forth from home to the office every day!If you only take one thing away from this review, let it be this: you WILL learn MySQL from this book!!