Expert Oracle Database Architecture: 9i and 10g Programming Techniques and Solutions

Oracle Wait Interface: A Practical Guide to Performance Diagnostics & Tuning (Osborne ORACLE Press Series)

Effective Oracle by Design (Osborne ORACLE Press Series)

Optimizing Oracle Performance

Oracle

Cost-Based Oracle Fundamentals

Format: Paperback
Author: Jonathan Lewis
ReleaseDate: 05 November, 2005
Publisher: Apress
Rating:

How much of it is useful ???
Sounds more like
R&D book rather than something which I am going to use. I took two days and went through the book. If you want to learn good SQL tuning, stick with Guy Harrison - it is more practical.

deep and detailed, yet surprisingly easy to follow


It has been surprisingly easy to understand the material, even if I didn't know most of the things discussed. Outstanding and excellent book - and I'm saying this after six months of reading and re-reading, and running and studying the provided scripts, and even performing my own investigations starting from the book's test cases. Reading has flown seamlessly, not exactly like reading a novel, but close enough for a technical book about the very complex CBO - and that was something I didn't expect at all, a very very nice surprise.

The most fundamental topics (the first ones are selectivity, cardinality, etc) being right at the beginning, I didn't need to read the whole book to start using the new knowledge effectively in practice, thus getting the "morale boost" that motivated me to read the next chapter, and then the next . . . adding layer after layer of knowledge.

I also *loved* the high level of detail, which is absolutely necessary to understand the complex CBO, and the precise and succinct writing style as well, which makes for an easier and quicker learning. When speaking about mathematical subjects (since the CBO is just that of course - a mathematical model), it's mandatory to be precise and detailed: vague statements would only add confusion or, worstly, misunderstanding.

To recap - I've got home a vastly improved understanding of the CBO - and for a fraction of the effort I thought it would have taken.

Got my money's worth the first day
I've run into this problem a couple times already and am glad to have a better understanding of it now. I just bought this book and already got my money's worth just from the information on transitive closure. Looking forward to reading the rest . . .

(I know my rating is premature considering I've only read a few pages so far - that's why I didn't give it 5 stars, but it's off to a very strong start so I felt that 4 stars was fair at this point. How often do you pick up a new book and learn something valuable that you can apply immediately on day 1? I may raise or lower my rating later if my opinion changes after reading more. ).