Oracle SQL High-Performance Tuning

I had a nagging and peculiar performance problem with a specific query involving a quirk in the Oracle optimizer which I had been trying to solve on and off for months. With the help of this book, I resolved the problem. It has a level of detail in query optimization way beyond other "highly recommended" books. The explanations are clear, *complete* (completeness was lacking in the other books), and easy and enjoyable to read. I finally have the understanding of these Oracle internals that I have been seeking!

I do a lot of SQL tuning for Oracle. This book is the best book I have read in this subject. It is not bias, it is clear, easy to understand, with good practical examples. It is written for a truly expert in Oracle SQL tuning. Using plain english the author explains a lot of concepts that are fundamental for a successful SQL tuning effort. I read the 1st edition more than once, and I am reading the 2nd edition for the second time. If you already have the first edition, it is worth to purchase the second edition that has been updated and feeded with additional elements. If you only have the time to read one book in Oracle SQL tuning, this is your book.

I've been tuning Oracle Applications instances for several customers, this book is the best in its class. It is easy to read, it follows a logical path. I always use it as my main reference book for SQL tuning. If you want to increase your knowledge in Oracle SQL tuning, this is the book. It provides good examples and explains concepts very well.

Turned right to the page I needed and got started on the solution.What out-dated material? Did they move the SGA? Are we not using SQL anymore?This is an outstanding book by an author with actual experience in the field who's taken the time to produce extensive examples. Not just the trivial examples for syntax diagrams, Mr. Harrison demonstrates the discipline required of tuning, performance testing, data gathering and analysis. My copy has pages 59-61 and is just about error-free. I suppose it may be possible that the word "select" may have been mis-spelled somewhere, but if you get stuck on that, you've probably got bigger problems that need to be dealt with before buying this book.Who is it that writes those negative reviews; a competitive author or just someone with a brain-fart? It skews the results unfairly. Shouldn't stand-out books like these have something more relevant than just a blank value judgement?It was a real jaw-dropper to see "unuseful" in a review about this book after having landed a contract to implement one of the techniques straight off the page.If you get nothing else out of this book, know that tuning SQL will give you orders of magnitude improvement in performance, while fiddle-farting with the init.ora will get you a percentage, in other words, not even a factor.Which would you rather have...10% or 10 times?I do have one complaint...the new cover is too gaudy, if not down-right garish. But then, I bought it for the content, not the cover.

This book has it all. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I can only hope that there are similar books available if my work ever shifts to competing databases. After 3 years of working with Oracle 7, I've only amassed about 1% of the practical knowledge and insights that Mr. Harrison shares with us in this book. Like the title suggests, it teaches Oracle database and SQL statement performance tuning rules, strategies and tips. However, it also dips into other valuable topics like principles of indexing, explaining the ever-mysterious tkprof output, configuring and tuning the database server itself, and listing other resources to fill the void of Oracle documentation. This book and Fuerstein's PL/SQL programming book have become standard issue for all developers on our project.