SQL Cookbook (Cookbooks (O'Reilly))

SQL Tuning

Ajax in Action

Head Rush Ajax

Agile Web Development with Rails : A Pragmatic Guide (Pragmatic Programmers)

Databases

The Art of SQL

Format: Paperback
Author: Stephane Faroult
ReleaseDate: 01 March, 2006
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Rating:

an accessible ticket to rigorousness
Like many people, I learned my SQL by the seat of the pants, as I needed it, and this book is a great way to help me go back and understand exactly what I'm doing, and why, and whether it's really the best way. I'm thoroughly enjoying this book.. . all without being pedantic. It's just academic enough - showing where database theory has important wisdom for practicing professionals, without the academic custom of puffing for puffiness's sake.

Avoid a Maginot Line of Defense
In many ways computing is like waging war, one part strategy, and many parts learning from your mistakes, and your real-world lessons. Computing is all about real-world experience, something manuals never really convey, and why we so often avoid them. When I look back at the best technology books, the ones that stand out are not those which cover every feature, or mull over every option, but rather dedicate themselves to the lessons the author has learned over the years. For it is from such an apprenticeship that we learn the most.

Reading Stephane's book, I feel like I'm an apprentice to a master, who can make great use of analogy. In this case he uses Sun Tsu's age-old Art of War to share with us his vision of the Art of SQL.

The chapter titles such as "Laying Plans", "Maneuvering", and the "Nine Situations" taken directly from Tsu's famous book, lend themselves so nicely to classical database development, it's a wonder no one had thought of the analogy before. For me this was engaging, and what I also really liked were the quotes at the top of each chapter, and the images of battle scenes which give the book a quality all it's own.

The introductory chapters hit upon very important starting points of good design, efficiency, and organization of your data. He then moves on to issues of indexing, SQL statements, and how they are transformed by the optimizer, physical implementation, and classical SQL patterns and how to recognize them. He moves on to hierarchical data, some more difficult cases and problems, and then issues of concurrency. He then spends a chapter looking at special issues associated with large volumes of data, and moves on to managing response times. The last chapter rounds out the discussions with monitoring the performance of your database.

This book clearly cuts a new path through the topic and I hope this will bring new interest and new perspectives to developers looking to understand SQL better. Stephane will keep you focused on the big picture of overall performance time, data round trips, and minimizing what you actually ask the server to do. You'll avoid building a Maginot Line of defense when you learn that your data and database are always changing, and your strategy and tactics must adapt accordingly.

Essential reading for any database professional.
This is one of those books. There are few database books that are pure gold from cover to cover. Timeless database principles applied to real life situations. I simply cannot recommend this book enough. The authors not that it is not geared towards DBA's. . . yeah right! This is a must read for any database professional.