Beginning SQL Programming

Rating:
Summary: Data packed!
Review: Any developer who is responsible for any type of database, should purchase this. This book serves as an excellent reference for seasoned professionals. Plus...if you are new to the game....Look no futher! This book is the key to information. Use it to unlock the world of SQL programming!

Rating:
Summary: Beginning to End SQL Programming
Review: I am one of the authors of this book, so of course my rating is going to be a little prejudiced. However, I must say that I'm very proud of this work, and after reading the complete work, I thought it should be called "Beginning to End SQL Programming." There isn't a single aspect of SQL that is not covered in this book. While it is designed to cover using SQL from the beginning, and written in a style that is easy for novices to understand, it covers more about the actual use of SQL than any other SQL book that I've seen. I actually use it as a reference myself!

Rating:
Summary: Good introductory book
Review: I don't understand some of the very negative reviews here. If you are new to SQL, then this book will be a good compagnon.
This book worked for me, it's gives you the fundamentals you need to get to the more advanced stuff. This book is to teach SQL, as a reference I use o'reillys SQL in a nutshell. And the comment on the price? Well, i think all programming books are getting more and more expensive...

Rating:
Summary: Typos, inconsistent examples, sidetracked, advocate for Micr
Review: It is obvious this book was a rush to press item. There are so many mistakes and inconsistent example formats in this book that it is an embarrassment. The authors also get sidetracked with many of their examples and leave you hanging. The book does contain SQL, but mostly it promotes "Microsoft tools." I would not recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn SQL. It is simply another rush to market book on how to do X. O'Reilly's SQL Essentials is by far many times better!

Rating:
Summary: Rubbish
Review: It's difficult to know where to start with this book. Errors I suppose is the best place. There are so many errors in the examples in this book it is embarrassing, it would be laughable as well, but instead it is seriously annoying. It makes grasping the concepts almost impossible as you keep having to tinker with the code to get it to work, or seek other sources of information to find out how it should be done, which defeats the purpose of using this book altogether.

As another reviewer has mentioned, I don't believe the authors communicated much, if at all, when writing this book. It explains some concepts several times throughout the book, as if each author is taking a crack at it, and then other concepts are ignored completely.

Another really annoying thing about this book is that there isn't much hands on stuff, they just talk at you, rather than involve you. The 'try it out' sections typical of Wrox books are few and far between in this publication. There aren't any questions to test your knowledge at the end of each chapter either. I say again this book just 'talks at you'; it leaves you feeling quite numb.

It's odd that for a manual of over 700 pages you will feel as if you have learnt very little. Anything of real value, that would help you in the real world of development, has been left out. Sometimes it mentions some feature that would be of real value and then the words 'but we won't be covering that in this book' appear. This happens again and again to the point of insanity.

The only thing I have learnt from this book is that I will have to buy another book to learn SQL, but it won't be a Wrox publication this time, Wrox are beginning to fall in my estimation. I really don't know what Wrox and the authors were thinking when they released this, it really is terrible. You know you really get the feeling that Wrox are getting you to do their proof reading for them!

Rating:
Summary: Fun to use
Review: Nice overview of SQL in Access, SQL Server and Oracle. Reviews mostly basic methods, but comprehensively, and that's just what I needed.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent tutorial and reference!
Review: This book is excellent! It's clearly written and easy to follow! And, I must admit that when I read a review of this book by the one of the authors I thought that his opinion must be biased, but it wasn't, it was right on the mark! This book is an excellent reference book. It has replaced my previous #1 favorite, Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes. The Sams book is still an excellent title to own too! The Sams book is a good "portable" reference due to its quality and size. The Wrox book is a good desktop reference. Even though the Wrox book is a big book you'll still be tempted to keep it with you because it's so good!

Rating:
Summary: Overpriced for meager information
Review: This book is [price] and I cannot see the justification for it. 90% of the informatin of this book is contained in Rob Vierra's SQL 2000 book. If you already own Rob Vierra's book, you probably don't need this book to teach you the fundamentals of SQL.

This book does a great job for teaching you the fundamentals of SQL. But I am not sure if THAT is worth [price] since SQL is a relatively easy language to learn. Almost every Database book I won teach the concepts of this book. I expected MUCH more and show some cutting edge SQL scripting for its price. But this book fails to deliver it.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Appalling!!!
Review: This has got to be the worst book on any computing subject ever published. The try it out sections and code snippets throughout the book are about 80% incorrect, honestly the level of errors and poor coding is disgraceful. Wrox books are normally of a very high quality but this one is absolutely terrible, I can't emphasised that enough. I begun this book with high enthusiasm for this subject but now my enthusiasm has totally diminished.

Apart from the appalling level of errors there is also a high level or repetition, which can only be down to poor communication among its authors. Then in other areas you'll find exceptional weak explanations or explanations lacking altogether.

The book skims over most of SQL, it doesn't cover it all by a long shot (as another reviewer has suggested). Also those who have praised this book must of read it like a novel, because if they really analysed and tested the code they would of realised most of it is incorrect. I just don't believe anyone who really examined this book could give it any praise, it really is awful.

Some of the try it out sections constantly use parts of SQL that aren't covered till later in the book, so you're pretty much left hanging, or jumping back and forward. Confusion reigns. You'll also find that the authors apply a style of SQL common to the DBMS they each use most often, so you end up with different types of SQL. This is all very well for an intermediate or advanced text but not in a book for beginners, as this just adds to the already overloaded confusion level.

The case study at the end of the book uses both ASP and VBScript so if you don't know those you can forget the case study. This is disappointing as case studies can really help your understanding of the language, and how it should be applied in the real world.

The errata page for the book on the Wrox website only includes about 9 errors (at the time of writing this). I've been told that they haven't got anyone to do these updates yet, this has been the case for sometime. So if you encounter trouble you'll have to find a forum and a helpful techie to help you through instead of Wrox support. This is very annoying and extremely disappointing consider the volume of errors. So prepare yourself for some major headaches.

If you complete this book you'll note yourself feeling numb and confused . You will have to buy another book to put all the wrongs in this book right in your mind, and believe me there are loads of wrongs to put right. This really is a very, very poor publication. DON'T BUY!!!

Rating:
Summary: DISAPOINTED !
Review: Usually WROX print high levelled books. But this one is similar to a copy of the documentation you can find on some on line guide while using SQL Server. - first : you never know if the SQL shown is for SQL Server, Access or a normative one (SQL 2 or SQL 3)... - second : basic and well know "usages" are explained with many details, but hard thing are passed quickly ! - third : some informations are so specific to Microsoft SQL implementation that they do not need to be in the chapter title nor to be so detailled !

And when I think they have been three to "commit" this work, I don't understand the public they are looking for !

Please Mister AMAZON, why did there is no level ZERO to attribute a star notation ???