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Rating: 
Summary: If you Don't want to learn and use PL/SQL, buy another video
Review: A deft and knowledgeable hand who ably presents lean and well thought out material, Ms. Silvestrova avoids the trap of spending too much time attempting to create a glossy and slick presentation, and quickly gets down to the business of teaching PL/SQL. Her slight accent was melodious, and served to inject freshness into the teaching of a technical subject. I found this course not only highly satisfying, but also very effective in making PL/SQL an easily approachable subject. The emphasis obviously is placed on teaching a technical subject in a down to earth fashion, not on entertaining the audience with a glitzy set and air brushed actors. If the latter is what you want, better wait for the Walt Disney version (or buy one of the slickly produced competing PL/SQL videos on the market - this is experience speaking here). However, if you are a serious student, who seeks a sound introductory foundation and a solid immersion into the heart of intermediate PL/SQL, delivered by an apparently seasoned professional, then look no further. A+
Rating: 
Summary: Magnificent Book- Video really difficult to use
Review: Both this book and the similiar Oracle DBA book are magnificent. Each in their subject area is the most effective training books I've ever used, and I've had to read WAY too many in my career. The PL/SQL book gives superb examples- each example is a complete runnable block, not an excerpted fragment. So you don't have to flip all over the place to understand how the statements work together ot to test it out yourself. The book's diagrams are also very good. The explanation text is lucid and well organized. I really dont see how the books could be much better unless they could do a Vulcan Mind Meld!
The video on the other hand is quite disappointing, really almost useless. I had real difficulty understanding the instructor. The pronunciation and mangling of english constructs results in a presentation that is very difficult to follow - especially considering you are trying to learn a difficult and complex technical subject. Buy the book (seperately), and you will have the best tool for learning PL/SQL short of a personal tutor. Makes the Complete Reference series seem like random monkey typing!
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Book- Video really difficult to use
Review: Both this book and the similiar Oracle DBA book are magnificent. Each in their subject area is the most effective training books I've ever used, and I've had to read WAY too many in my career. The PL/SQL book gives superb examples- each example is a complete runnable block, not an excerpted fragment. So you don't have to flip all over the place to understand how the statements work together ot to test it out yourself. The book's diagrams are also very good. The explanation text is lucid and well organized. I really dont see how the books could be much better unless they could do a Vulcan Mind Meld!
The video on the other hand is quite disappointing, really almost useless. I had real difficulty understanding the instructor. The pronunciation and mangling of english constructs results in a presentation that is very difficult to follow - especially considering you are trying to learn a difficult and complex technical subject. Buy the book (seperately), and you will have the best tool for learning PL/SQL short of a personal tutor. Makes the Complete Reference series seem like random monkey typing!
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible, save your money!!!
Review: One star is way to high of a rating for this book!! I bought this set hoping that I would get in-depth knowledge of the PL/SQL programming language. I was greatly disappointed. First of all, I have no clue how the author, Elena Silvestrova, got her job with Columbia University. The presentation material was read directly out of the book. She did not elaborate on any examples at all. Isn't that the point of a video course??? Many times she would read an example incorrectly and then move to the next slide then catch her mistake and go back to the previous slide to correct her mistake! The video was very unorganized and not edited well at all. You could pick the book up and literally read the entire video course with her. Elena Silvestrova has a very heavy accent and it's quite hard to make out what she is reading. Her presentation skills are very poor and she stumbles through sentences. You would be better off to just to skip this one as I have put mine back in box. I stopped this course after chapter four and had to come to this site and leave my comments.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible, save your money!!!
Review: One star is way to high of a rating for this book!! I bought this set hoping that I would get in-depth knowledge of the PL/SQL programming language. I was greatly disappointed. First of all, I have no clue how the author, Elena Silvestrova, got her job with Columbia University. The presentation material was read directly out of the book. She did not elaborate on any examples at all. Isn't that the point of a video course??? Many times she would read an example incorrectly and then move to the next slide then catch her mistake and go back to the previous slide to correct her mistake! The video was very unorganized and not edited well at all. You could pick the book up and literally read the entire video course with her. Elena Silvestrova has a very heavy accent and it's quite hard to make out what she is reading. Her presentation skills are very poor and she stumbles through sentences. You would be better off to just to skip this one as I have put mine back in box. I stopped this course after chapter four and had to come to this site and leave my comments.
Rating:
Summary: 6 Superb Stars: Incomparable Text plus Effective Video
Review: With over twenty years in large scale IT development using Java/C++/C/Assembly languages on HP-UX/Solaris/AIX/Windows 2000/NT platforms, but a neophyte with PL/SQL, I needed a PL/SQL package that would assume no background knowledge in PL/SQL, get me up to speed fast, and at the same time be comprehensive. In other words, I wanted everything. This package no only satisfied this need, but opened up new avenues of thought concerning approaches to database programming. The book is simply matchless (it should get 6 stars--an extra star for the terrific exercises that incorporate hidden pearls of IT wisdom), and yes I have perused others on the market. Ms. Silvestrova demonstrates that she is a consummate professional. The flow of the book, depth of the hands-on exercises, and scope of material is an inimitable combination. This so far may sound over-glowing, but a workman is worthy of her hire. I would recommend this package to any introductory or middle level PL/SQL student. If you desire to be a competent PL/SQL professional, look no further. If you desire to have a guide that provides you with a solid answer to specific types of PL/SQL problems, look no further. However, if you seek a slick product that spoon feeds you programming palaver (under the guise of teaching), fly you fool: you have many under-performing options available. The video is as effective as any video can be on a Sequential Non-Event Oriented and Non-GUI programming language. It provides a visual venue that reinforces and compliments what the student should have accomplished in the workbook. Let's avoid any petulance or semantic superciliousness: Yes, Ms. Silvestrova has a slight accent, but no more than how someone from Alabama would sound to a New Yorker or vice-versa. She is easy to listen to, and more importantly, easy to learn from.
Buy it, try it, apply it!!!
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