Practical PostgreSQL [With CDROM]

The Command Prompt guys did a fine job of writing this book. It contains basic topics, like retrieving rows from a table, and advanced topics, like session encryption, JDBC, and PL/pgSQL, and everything in between. A very complete SQL command listing is available at the back of the book, as well, for those times when you can't quite remember proper syntax.Furthermore, it covers all the tools provided with PostgreSQL distributions (vacuumdb, etc.) and has a chapter on the included LXP software, which I haven't tried because I don't need it.This text, in conjunction with Programming the Perl DBI, got me from a PostgreSQL/DBI newbie to accidentally memorizing common SQL syntax, writing my own Perl DBI wrapper, and programming some simpler PL/pgSQL functions in about four days.I highly recommend it both as a tutorial and as a reference. Be warned, though -- the index is a bit sparse. Using it as a reference might require putting sticky tabs at the tops of your pages, as I've done.

I wanted to buy this book a few months ago, but after reading the reviews I relented. Finally, a few weeks ago I needed a book on PostgreSQL and it was the only one available, so I bought it. Since then I have referred to it almost everyday in my database programming duties. It is well made, well presented and goes into minute details that other books simply skip.Normally I would have given this book 4 stars, but after being misled by the bad reviews below I decided it well deserved the extra star. My only concern with this book, is that it leaves out PHP, which is a shame. Because most people I know use PHP to interface the web with PostgreSQL.if you need a book on the best Open Source database at the present, then this book should be amongst your top picks.

This is an excellent book to begin learning about the most advanced open source database available, it covers the theory and history of PostgreSQL and includes instructions on installing the database server.The authors clearly explain the topics covered in the book, I've given the book to several co-workers who were interested in the book and they also view it favorably.I recommend this book to the person interested in learning more about PostgreSQL or the person who has never used a database server before.This book does not get into the advanced features of PostgreSQL but all in all this is a quality reference and handbook, perhaps better named as Learning PostgreSQL.

I came from a mySQL environment, so I had some SQL experience before tackling PostgreSQL. Basically, I breezed over the book, and when creating my data base, I remembered what the DB was able to do, and looked more closely at the parts of the book that I needed.RE LXP, while obscurity is certainly no reason to discount something, I see no reason to go so deep into coverage of this language, when things like PHP are so much more widely used for such purposes. A far better use of those pages would have been a small discussion on DB structure and logic, and general guidelines on how to set things up efficiently. That, and a more specific description of the configuration variables before compiling the DB, preferrably going over when you would need to use those options.

The reason this book is so good is that it tells you how to integrate the postgres environment into Microsoft's .NET and into the J2EE environment. Do not pay large sums of money to Oracle or Microsoft. Postgres gives you all the functionality you need at no cost.