Why Aren't All SQL Tutorial Books Like This?
I'm looking at you, Microsoft Product Writers, although you're certainly not alone. In 240 pages and 2 days I learned, easily comprehended, and retained more about the fundamentals of a SQL server than I ever did reading many of those "Introduction To..." behemoths.
The book starts with introducing you to both the product as well as database design and efficient database/table creation. Following this is an excellent overview of using MySQL and the MySQL-flavor of SQL focused on language (query language keywords, functions, etc), table types (MyISAM, InnoDB, etc), and transactions. You're reading is concluded with an excellent overview of general administration and optimization. Each section is broken down into discussion, fully-functional examples, a quiz, and to-do exercises, ensuring that you get to implement and solidify the skills you just acquired.
At the time of my writing this, the book is 4 years old, and the version of MySQL it addresses (4.x) has already been upgraded. I knew that when I purchased the book, and it doesn't matter as the fundamentals haven't changed. MySQL may have released improved GUI tools to accomplish many tasks as well as introducing additional features, but the underlying SQL language, design methods, and structure is the same, and knowing/understanding the fundamentals improves your efficiency and makes using the product easier.
As the purpose of this book is to teach you the fundamentals of database design and creation, this will not be your last purchase. But for those new to MySQL, you can not go wrong starting here, even now.
Add This To Your Library
Luke Welling and Laura Thomson have the special gift of taking information, disseminating it, and making it simple to understand for everyone. This is the second book I bought from these authors (Php and MySQL Web Development) without any complaints.
It is nice to see books of this size (250 pages) at this price point coming out. Nothing is worse than those large tomes that weigh a ton and cost an arm and a leg. You should be able to get through this in a week, which is perfect for busy professionals.
This tutorial is written very clearly and does what I want from it - nail down the 80% of the necessary information needed to get work done. After each chapter there is a quiz to test your knowledge. The authors tackle both the user and administrator side of using the product. One of my favorite sections in the book is the Database Crash Course which discusses normalization.
If you are serious about using mySQL in your web projects, look to this book to get you started quickly. This book won't turn you into an immediate mySQL expert. But what it will do is give you the skills to be proficient. It was good enough to get my projects started on my website, KerryOnWorld.com. This is a top 30 book in my 15-year technical library. That is how much I like it.
A concise introduction to the fundamentals of MySQL
MySQL is the database used by many commercial and open source security products. Although the user is often "shielded" from interacting with the database directly, it's important and sometimes crucial to know basic MySQL administration. "MySQL Tutorial" is the perfect companion to any security tool which depends on a MySQL database. For example, no one seriously expects to collect large amounts of data with Sguil and Snort unless a MySQL or similar database is working in the background. "MySQL Tutorial" gives the right details on the right subjects for those running integrated MySQL databases.
This book is not for Oracle gurus. It's for people who need basic understanding of MySQL installation, configuration, security, and administration. I found the authors' explanations clear and relevant, hitting the high points I would expect in a 267 page book. The text is example-driven, using a sample "employee" database to demonstrate various administration tasks.
The only real fault I found involves the scripts at the publisher's Web site. They create a sample database whose naming convention differs from the book's description. For example, the scripts create an "employee_skills" table, but the book speaks of "employeeSkills". The best answer to this problem is to manually correct the scripts prior to running them, or to type in the examples by hand.
"MySQL Tutorial" met my expectations, with a page count and price far more reasonable than many tech titles available today. I recommend this book to anyone who uses MySQL in a role supporting intrusion detection systems, Web servers, or similar applications.
Nice introduction and overview
This book assumes some familiarity with the basics of databases, and knowledge of some web application language with which you can write your queries.Its a nice overview of MySQL's capabilites and quirks. After reading the first few chapters I am more convinced than before that MySQL is the best database choice for all but the largest, most critical applications.
If you're an experienced techie and you want the heavy details on MySQL, get one of the $50 encyclopedia-weight books. If you want a nice introduction and instructions on how to work with basic queries, try this book.
