Product Description
Just Enough Web Programming with XHTML, PHP, and MySQL provides a layperson?s guide to web programming for the casual web designer, student, or serious professional. The book explains how to build powerful interactive sites, whether you?re designing a bulletin board, game, or web store. As part of the Just Enough series, the book provides ?just enough? information to get you started quickly, without overloading you with unnecessary details. After a brief introduction, the book concisely explains the XML, XHTML, and CSS concepts you need to understand to start creating web sites. From there, you?ll start programming and learning the basics of client side and server side scripting and web databases. Then it?s time to put it all together using Content Management Systems. The book includes several chapters on emerging Web 2.0 and how you can put it to use to create your own interactive sites quickly. Part of the beauty of Just Enough Web Programming with XHTML, PHP, and MySQL is its breadth of coverage. By cutting out what you don?t need, the book helps you learn a lot about web programming, and helps you put all of the information together to make a site quickly. So what are you waiting for? Let?s get started! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Horribly Written
Just Enough Web Programming with XHTML, PHP, and MySQL
This Book is the least concise book I have ever read. There are 2-3 important things per page buried in fluff. I am completely new to this subject and want to start quickly so this book sounded great, but the book is more the author talking about "this is too technical so we will ignore it" then anything else he says it several times per chapter and spends a paragraph telling about where else in the book you can find more snippets about it. ... Read more

Product Description
If you are new to programming with PHP and MySQL and arelooking for a solid introduction, this is the book for you. Developedby computer science instructors, books in the for the absolutebeginner series teach the principles of programming through simplegame creation. You will acquire the skills that you need for morepractical programming applications and will learn how these skills canbe put to use in real world scenarios. Best of all, by the time youfinish this book you will be able to apply the basic principles you’velearned to the next programming language you tackle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Not for beginners. Confusing.
This book is not for beginners, and it is absolutely not for "absolute" beginners. It's badly written and jump for one subject to another. It doesn't make sense whatsoever. It introduce tags and codes without any explanation and then they move on to more code using information that was never explained. Don't buy it. Save your money and time.

Save your money, mine is going back!
As always, another book for beginners that makes no sense. If you are like me trying to learn PHP/MySQL it looks like the NET is the way to go. Find tons of tutorials and read them. I only read the first 100+ pages and was not happy. It appears that they DONT KNOW what a beginner is! I'm still looking for a book to get my feet wet, so far I've read the "in easy steps" books from BN, and they were simple to grasp. But not enough.

This has been one of my biggest complaints with books for beginners... Are they really for some one who knows nothing about the subject? Or is it marketing? You make the call. I have complained forever about this! It appears they start out good then lose it, and you are now stuck.

PS This is my first review and I wanted to write it so you can see it really does not help the newbie. Good Luck in your PHP/MySQL learning.

Wonderful for Beginners !
One of the Best books I have ever read ,not only in Computers but in general.The author has brought out the exciting world of PHP/MySQL to a dumbo like me..!!

To put in a nutshell when I finished reading the book I felt that someone who has guided me over is gone !

Needless to say that I strongly recommend this book for beginners..! :)

Good but not great- it has unusable code
This book has been good for several things- teaching basic code, reusing snippets of scripts- but in Chaper 6- Working with Files, I haven't been able to get the code to work. Loading it from the companion CD, it didn't work off the bat. I went online for support and there is NO errata souce for the book which is really frustrating! I finally figured out the first problem in the code, but now I am stuck again. I like to use the book as a reference to work on a problem at hand, so this book isn't one for that. Also, the code that it suppllies should work without any tweaking needed (or tell you what tweaking needs to be done) and this book isn't one for that either. Therefore, I suggest borrowing the book from a friend or the library before purchasing, or buy it used. It is helpful at points, but en errata source would have made this perfect for me. For an example of a great book/resource on PHP and MySQL, see Larry Ullman's PHP & MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites.

Good, but doesn't help much designing the actual page.
Good, but doesn't help much designing the actual page. I was hoping to learn to make the actual design of a page, but its mostly all about scripts. I like how you do get examples though. ... Read more

Product Description

Since the enormous number of new features made available with MySQL release 5.0, MySQL has been gaining steam as a viable alternative to database behemoths like Oracle and IBM DB2. MySQL users now have the ability to extend MySQL with new SQL commands, optimize query execution, and embed MySQL within low-resource environments like embedded devices and kiosks.

Customer Reviews (3)

Move your knowledge of MySQL ahead with this book
Expert MySQL starts with a section on the anatomy of a database system including the common types of systems.This is often missing in database books and a very important part to understand if you going to use one to its fullest potential.Other sections include one on the source code and one on extending and debugging MySQL.The author devotes a chapter to embedded MySQL including building embedded MySQL applications as well as one on adding functions and commands.The third and final part of the book covers advanced database internals and includes a good section on query optimization.

Throughout Expert MySQL the author has included notes embedded with the text, sidebars offset by a different shading, and other notes, diagrams, and illustrations as appropriate to help the reader understand the text.There are also plenty of coding examples.My book had some printing problems towards the back with pages that had a vertical black line running down the center of the page.This sort of problem is highly unusual with Apress but occurred in my copy nonetheless.Chapters 10, 11 and 12 have exercises at the end to help ensure that you understand the concepts.The answers to the questions are included in the appendix.

This is not really the best book for the person new to MySQL but is more appropriate to the person who understands MySQL and wants to extend its functionality into new areas.Expert MySQL is recommended to those people who want to learn how to modify and extend MySQL.

Expert MySQL Lives Up to Its Title
This book lives up to its title by offering expert advice on how to use MySQL to its fullest. Expert MySQL goes deeper than just syntax and samples, offering useful information on the internals of MySQL. Even though there are a lot of titles on MySQL, this book would make a worthy addition to the library of any MySQL developer or DBA.

An advanced MySQL and DBMS book
This is an advanced book.
You can use it to learn the internals of MySQL as well as the internals of a Database Management System (DBMS).
It will teach you how to make changes to the MySQL source code.
An alternative name for the book could have been "MySQL internals".
I really like it and I find it very useful.

PS. It contains C++ code. ... Read more

Product Description
Apress has done what many other publishers have failed to do by providing an excellent series of "Novice to Professional" books.This book is pretty much a "must have" for a MySQL programmer looking to bridge the gap between novice and professional.Beginning MySQL Database Design and Optimization is a great book for MySQL users who already know the basics and want to improve their use of MySQL.

— Mike Hillyer, Mike Hillyer's Personal Web Space

Nearly every non-trivial application requires data persistence, and for an application of any significant size and scope, persistence is typically achieved using a database. If you're building or maintaining any significant application and are using MySQL, this book is for you.For open source and other types of projects, the MySQL database is a very popular choice: it's free; fast, robust, and scalable; and it runs on all of the major platforms, allowing maximum use of available hardware resources. But it's easy to disregard MySQL's speed and other advantages if your database design is inefficient. Needlessly duplicating data, using improper types for columns, overloading a single table where multiple tables should be used, failing to leverage the calculation features of MySQL, and making multiple queries instead of an efficient single query are some of the common mistakes.

Beginning MySQL Database Design and Optimization shows you how to identify, overcome, and avoid gross inefficiencies. It demonstrates how to maximize the many data manipulation features that MySQL includes. This book explains how to include tests and branches in your queries, how to normalize your database, and how to issue concurrent queries to boost performance, among many other design and optimization topics. You'll also learn about some features new to MySQL 4.1 and 5.0 like subqueries, stored procedures, and views, all of which will help you build even more efficient applications.

Customer Reviews (7)

Great book!
I liked the book! It was on my taste like almost all of the apress books that i own. :D

I would recommend it!

Good for basics, not up-to-date for recent releases
As a working professional database developer/DBA, I should have noticed that every other review about this book is at least three years old, most almost four. This book was written to be used with MySQL V4.0, with look-aheads to 4.1 and 5.0. Version 5.0 has been released for almost two years now, and V6 is on the near horizon. A lot has changed in terms of optimization and feature sets. I sincerely hope that the authors will consider updating this work so that it is more current in terms of tuning and features. If you are new to MySQL, use the book as a basis for solid SQL and design principles; if you are more experienced, perhaps just reading and studying the 5.1 and 6.0 docs from MySQL AB would serve you better.

Lee Parmenter, CMA

Great Introduction to MySQL
As a beginner to MySQL I bought this book to gain an insight into the how's and why's of using MySQL. Overall having read the book from cover to cover ( a first for me as far as computer books go ) I can thoroughly recommend this book to anyone new to using MySQL. The layout is clear, the text easily readable, not too techie at first but still a great deal of examples for you to get up and running.
The writing style is easy going but not preaching and all topics are treated in an easy to grasp manner.
The only down side is that it doesn't cover programming MySQL using Visual Basic although several other languages are covered well.
Overall a great book for the newbie and intermediate user.

5 stars for novice to intermediate 4 for professionals
The first three chapters of this book deal with the basics of MySQL including basic concepts, column and table types, keys, indexes, and normalization.The authors have written an excellent introduction to MySQL that provides all the core information you need to start using it right away.The chapter on finding the bottlenecks is one of the best sections in the book and details some of the finer points to be considered when creating your database.On the other hand, the part on optimizing queries is excellent for the beginning MySQL student (which is the target audience for this book) but not as good as it could be for the more experienced MySQL user.Perhaps I am just more sensitive to this area because of all the badly done queries I have had to deal with before.A good understanding of just this part can make a tremendous difference in optimization.If you are new to SQL queries the authors have done a great job of explaining why this is important and how to understand it when a query takes under a minute to run and then after a small change takes twenty.The last section covers accessing the MySQL database via other programming languages such as PHP.Beginning MySQL Database Design and Optimization is a recommended read for its target audience - the beginning MySQL programmer.

improve your MySQL usage
If you already know the basics of MySQL, then this book can be a nifty boost to your productivity. The authors plow straight into giving good tips for better table design. For example, the first chapter covers MySQL basics. But it furnishes very understandable advice. Like never using spaces in identifier names. While MySQL permits this, it greatly increases chances of logic errors.

Later in the book are far more complicated tips. Crucially, on how to optimise complex queries. While SQL notation is standard across vendors, each database has different ways to best phrase queries. So since you have committed to using MySQL, it helps to know what are best here.

The authors also instruct in how to hook up to external languages like PHP, Perl and Python. (What is it about all these languages that start with P?) Each has its adherents and is quite popular. So they try to give coverage of the combinations with MySQL. ... Read more

Product Description

Beginning PHP 5 E-Commerce: From Novice to Professional is an ideal reference for intermediate PHP 5 and MySQL developers, and programmers familiar with web development technologies. This book covers every step of the design and build process, and provides rich examples that will enable you to build high-quality, extendable e-commerce websites. Take a peek at an actual book example!

Furthermore, this book covers site building in three phases. Phase one results in a live website, with an attractive interface and fully searchable product catalog. Next, phase two explains adding facilities to increase sales through cross-selling, upselling, and enhancing customer service. Finally, phase three seeks to reduce costs through automated order processing and integrating with other systems via XML Web services.

Customer Reviews (26)

A comprehensive book with fully working code
I did a couple of pure HTML sites years back, but beyond that I have done no other web apps.I have some background in C and PERL, but this was the first time I have ever touched PHP or SQL.

I worked all the way through this book from front to back, and the end result was a fully working website.There are no bugs in the code in this book. However, that being said, getting my Linux installation fully functional with it was a real chore.But that has nothing to do with the authors and is not the point of the book.Some posters claimed the book has problems.I struggled here and there, but at the end, I always found the problem wasn't with the book.It's user error or various annoying behaviors of PHP, MySQL, or the Apache web server that always end up being the culprit.I did install Zend studio and set it up for remote debugging so I could single step through the code.This was HUGELY helpful.I also configured my web browsers with debug modules so I could see the messages being sent back and forth.While interesting, it's no match for the power of the zend debugger.

After working through the code, I integrated this engine into our existing website.We are not doing ecommerce from that site at the moment, but all the product information, FAQ's, and the news module are now under the content management system developed in this book.I of course had to add new modules for the news and faq management.Products, news items, and FAQ's can easily be changed by anyone capable of managing the web interface.The front page graphics and for that matter pretty much all the graphics on the site except the logo can also be changed through the web interface as well.I had to dig around and learn more PHP here and there.But in general, the book is pretty thorough and can't be expected to teach you advanced PHP as well.

The complexity of the three-tier implementation is a bit daunting at first.I have to admit that.But once you start trying to extend it to meet your sites specific needs, you really begin to see the power of the OOP approach it uses.Other reviewers have mentioned the methodology as well, and I have to strongly agree with them on that.The methodology is first rate.It results in clean, manageable, extensible code that someone can actually figure out and modify.I recently integrated a custom PhPBB3 implementation into our website.I can tell you that code is MUCH harder to understand.

The real hard part with this book is finding the right readers for it.If you are serious about wanting to code a PHP/MySQL site, AND you are actually capable of learning how to do it vs wanting to cookie cutter it, then I highly recommend this book.Of course if you have already made five PHP/MYSQL E-commerce sites, then it's not the book for you.And it's not for a true "novice" either.This is reasonably complicated stuff.The authors have made it about as simple as you can, but you can only make it so simple.The "novice" here means someone with a reasonable programming background that's new to PHP and MySQL.

No longer useful
I've been using this book for the past few business weeks. Yes, weeks.

First and foremost, this book is extremely well written, well cited, and clear. Examples are concise, and it rarely leaves you floundering to understand a topic. The ideas are presented in a logical order, proceed clearly, and generally, consist of helpful hints and instructions.

UNFORTUNATELY, all of the code in this book is pretty much worthless. Every bit of it is outdated, and in the 134 pages of the book that I have suffered through, I have had major problems at every step. From having major issues with integrating PEAR (installation has completely changed since the writing of this book, and the major database functions it uses have changed, and the documentation in the book and on the PEAR website are not clear on this), to having to track down irregular and outdated code, not a single feature has been implemented easily or correctly on the first attempt (even ignoring any errors that I made myself due to my inexperience).

I have wasted hours on this book, thinking that it will eventually get to the point where I'm not running into compatibility issues. This may end up being the case, but taking several business days (2.5 weeks invested in just this book) worth of my time to get through 134 pages (mainly spent debugging and perusing forums to find solutions) is just not worth it.

I will be buying the second edition, and I hope that it fixes these issues.

It's really a shame, because the theory in this book is truly awesome. Implementing it, however, is a nightmare, especially for a beginner.

Great
Although I am having A LOT of trouble implementing all the code, this is the only book I have seen that will actually walk you through all the steps. And the author actually does reply to his emails. I would definitely recomend his second edition of this book.

Update: Get the 2nd Edition.

Introduction to E-Commerce and the Smarty Framework
I've read, and enjoyed, other books by Cristian Darie.This book is no different.This book shows how to use PHP 5 and the Smarty framework to produce an E-Commerce site.The Smarty framework is a good choice for PHP developers seeking to implement a good template.This book fills a gap by being a good introduction to this framework as well.

If you are not familiar with Smarty, the following description is from their web site:

Smarty is a template engine for PHP. More specifically, it facilitates a manageable way to separate application logic and content from its presentation. This is best described in a situation where the application programmer and the template designer play different roles, or in most cases are not the same person.

This book guides you as the author develops an advanced E-Commerce system.Think of something such as Amazon, complete with product reviews, customer and catalog management.Once the user is finished reading the book they are left with working catalog order system that they can modify to suit their needs.Or completely create their own similar system.

The table of contents for the book follows:

Chapter 1: Starting an E-Commerce Site
Chapter 2: Laying Out the Foundations
Chapter 3: Creating the Product Catalog: Part I
Chapter 4: Creating the Product Catalog: Part II
Chapter 5: Searching the Catalog
Chapter 6: Receiving Payments using PayPal
Chapter 7: Catalog Administration
Chapter 8: The Shopping Basket
Chapter 9: Dealing with Customer Orders
Chapter 10: Product Recommendations
Chapter 11: Customer Details
Chapter 12: Implementing the Order Pipline: Part I
Chapter 13: Implementing the Order Pipeline: Part II
Chapter 14: Credit Card Transactions
Chapter 15: Product Reviews
Chapter 16: Connecting to Web Services

Misleading
I have purchased a multitude of books from Amazon over the years.However, I have never written a book review, no matter how bad the book turned out to be.But, there is always a first time.This is one of the worst - if not the worst - tech books I have ever read, and with over 25 years of Engineering and Software development experience I have read a lot of books.

Now I know why Apress doesn't let you look inside their books on the Amazon website before you purchase.If they did there might not be an Apress at all.First, there is nothing "novice" about this book.Second, you had better know how to use Smarty, and I mean use it well.Don't rely on the Smarty website documentation to help and there are not many definitive books on the subject either.I only found one title devoted to Smarty on Amazon and that would cost another 39.99.

I typically like to review books in the local bookstore and take a gander at Amazon "reviews" before purchase.However, I couldn't find the book locally (which should have told me something) and I failed to pay proper attention to the reviews, i.e., take a look at Michael Brand's review. The editorial book review doesn't even mention Smarty which is a major part of this book.

This book reviews at 4.5 stars.From this, I can only assume the large majority of those reviewing the book work at Apress or are kin to the authors.After the first three chapters I was seeing stars.Don't be suckered in to buying this book unless you are thoroughly familiar with Smarty.

So, if your an experienced -not novice- php/mysql programmer and Smarty wizard, and love to read(and debug) code with little useful explanatory info, then by all means buy this book.Oh, did I mention it makes a great coaster for coffee?

JC. ... Read more

Product Description
The only book to address using cache to enhance and speed up Web application development

• Developers use Apache, MySQL, memcached, and Perl to build dynamic Web sites that store information within the MySQL database; this is the only book to address using these technologies together to alleviate the database load in Web development
• Covers each of the four systems and shows how to install, set up, and administer them; then shows the reader how to put the parts together to start building applications
• Explains the benefits of a base perl library for code re-use, and provides sample applications that demonstrate in a practical way the information covered in the previous chapters
• Examines monitoring, performance, and security, with a problem-solving chapter that walks the reader through solving real-world issues

  ... Read more

Product Description

JSP developers encounter unique problems when building web applications that require intense database connectivity. MySQL and JSP Web Applications addresses the challenges of building data-driven applications based on the JavaServer Pages development model. MySQL and JSP Web Applications begins with an overview of the core technologies required for JSP database development--JavaServer Pages, JDBC, and the database schema. The book then outlines and presents an Internet commerce application that demonstrates concepts such as receiving and processing user input, designing and implementing business rules, and balancing the user load on the server. Through the JDBC (Java DataBase Connector), the developer can communicate with most commercial databases, such as Oracle. The solutions presented in MySQL and JSP Web Applications center on the open source tools MySQL and Tomcat, allowing the reader an affordable way to test applications and experiment with the book's examples.

Customer Reviews (8)

The Worst Technical Book I've Ever Bought
This is without a doubt the worst technical book I have ever bought.

Some of the problems stem from the fact that most of the packages used are now out of date.Case in point:the book walks through the installation & configuration of Turbine (which is used for connection pooling), unfortunately the connection pooling part of Turbine has now been branched off into another project (and Tomcat now includes standard J2EE connection pooling anyway).

The other major problem is that a nearly every instance of example code is either sloppy and badly edited, or in some cases plainly doesn't even work without serious debugging.

If you must buy this book, don't even think about trying to follow the core example application without first downloading the source-code from the authors website.You WILL be needing it, even if only to 'fill in the blanks' from the poor instructions, and to help find the coding errors.

In conclusion, I would never recommend this book to anyone - even another experienced programmer trying to add JSP/Servlets to their repertoire.

Do yourself a favour, buy Murach's book instead.

Why would anyone give this book 5 stars
I have read this book from cover to cover and used many of the examples in some of my development. There are errors in the editing to be sure. For the most part most are minor e.g. links that end with .htm instead of .html will not work or if you create the database in mySQL, in my case on a Linux platform there are errors you will run into. These errors are limited to making sure you observe the case of the letters in creating and quering your database. This book is not for the beginner. It teaches a systematic approach to building an ecommerce web site using jsp's and mysql. The reason for the 5 star rating is this book makes you go out of the box to learn ant, turbine and other opensource packages to build a working e-commmerce web site. Personally I do not like to put java code int an html page = jsp's ... but this book offers sound eamples and good advice. One of the better practical but certainly not perfect books I've bought.

Poorly edited
I was encouraged when I first started reading this book, but soon I grew disappointed. The book is peppered with useful tips here and there, but in general it's too linear, as an earlier review mentioned. The book is more of a recipe for a web app than a general guide, and it wastes too much space on design process. But worse than that, it is fraught with errors, as if edited by someone who didn't understand the material. Letters have been dropped from words, referenced figures don't show what the referencing text says, there are errors in XML examples. A funny example is on the "In This Chapter" sidebar on the opening page of Chapter 2 where one of the bullet items is "Bean Resistence". More power to the beans! He meant "Bean Persistence", but hey, if you're going to get it wrong, at least spell it right. :)

Some valid information but stays strict to Turbine
I picked up this book as a reference for integrating our PHP and MySQL designs with JSP pages.However the author sticks to a single fundamental method of JSP development for MySQL which is using Apache's Jakarta Turbine classes.No information is given as to the other mechanisms available to utilize MySQL with Java such as MySQL Connector/J or Resin JDBC.I believe this book is a very shortsighted approach to the many tools available in the Java and JSP world. I think the Turbine approach is fine, but should maybe have been a later chapter not most of the book.We developed our entire web site without the use of Turbine.

Some discussion is given to strategies with JNDI and LDAP, as well as EJB.There is also a healthy discussion of XML which I believe would be better suited for an XML book, but serves as nothing more than filler here, which could have been used to expand upon the other methods of JDBC.

I would have given this book three stars, but several errors in the code examples always bring down quality by at least one star.I expect a book written by a developer for the purpose of instruction to be error free in all code examples.

All in all the book appears to be a step by step tutorial to building a program according to the developer's linear scheme, rather than a comprehensive discussion of all the options available to a JSP/Servlet developer integrating with MySQL. Sadly this really is the only book available on the subject at this time.

What the Doctor Ordered!
If you are using the Tomcat, MySQL, JSP configuration, this book is the absolute perfect marriage of these technologies.It covers every aspect of the implementation.It is required, however, that you do have a little background in 1 or more of these technologies.The examples are excellent and at times the book is a lighthearted read.Kudos to the author. ... Read more

Product Description

The Most Complete and Practical Guide to MySQL Version 5’s Powerful SQL Dialect

Customer Reviews (7)

Minor errors in code
In general, the text is clear and well-written. I have come across minor syntax errors and other problems -- errors that are immediately obvious to someone familiar with SQL. Since I am a beginning student of SQL, they weren't immediately obvious to me.

For example, the author tends to present all code in all uppercase. While that's fine for keywords, for which case doesn't matter -- and as far as I can tell, the prevailing convention is to use uppercase for keywords -- it does matter for filenames, when one is using operating systems other than Windows. There was one long script, in particular, in Chapter 4, which failed to work on my Linux system for that reason.

If there were a good errata published online, I would have given this book five stars.

Weak Book.Not edited and not translated well
Pretty disappointed with the book.I don't think anyone took the time to edit it or review the translations and context of the translations.I have read many other SQL books that were much easier to understand and were better at explaining complex tasks.

The beginning of chapter 18 starts out: "The opposite of loading data is, obviously, loading data."Is this for real?

I want my money back.I recommend getting a different book.At $40+ this book is not worth half that.

A usefull guide to SQL...
I bought this product to help my process is learning SQL. There are a lot of bad (or horrible books) that explain SQL. I have bought quite a few of them so I was excited about this book...

I found this guide useful with the command syntax but there is not enough examples or explanations following the SQL commands...

That being said, this book is useful as a very good guide but not to teach the user SQL; to help out with the online SQL information and provide more information than some of the bad SQL books. In this respect the book does a decent job.

For the book I would give 3.5 stars but, I will round up to 4 stars for the Amazon rating...

Currently using for a class
I don't think this is all that great, but I think the main issue may be the translation job.Everything reads in a roundabout fashion, and 'full stop' is indicated for period, 'Brackets' for parenthesis.

Not horrible, but I've been using an old O'Reilly book I'd bought as a reference for work alongside it.I find the definitions and explanations are more user friendly than the ones in here.

Also, most of the examples in this book are quirky 'trick shots'.I understand they do illustrate the principles, but I'd like to see a lot more real-world examples.They just have nothing in common with SQL statements I've had to write for homework or in the workplace.You don't learn to play pool by practicing trick shots that don't work in a game, amirite?!

It works!
I just received the book yesterday. I opened the book, browsed the table of content and immediately noticed one of the topic on "Select" I can utilize directly in my work (as a professional software engineer). I updated my code today in my office. A single statement update replaced a chunk of our existing code and it all works out beautifully.

Never have a book that pay for itself so fast.

If you program SQL and all you use is the stuff you remembered since your college days, buy this book and read. You will be surprised!

Now I have this book over quite a few weeks, I must to say, it well exceeds my expectation. It contains some very detailed descriptions and the written and style is simple, straight forward, and easy to use.

Highly recommended!


... Read more

Product Description
* Organization: The book is divided into five parts: Getting Starated with MySQL and Relational Databases; Understanding SQL Through MySQL; MySQL Administration; MySQL Developer Guide; and Advanced and Specialized MySQL Topics.
* Comprehensive coverage: This Bible covers both beginning-level and advanced topics. Topics covered include: introduction to relational database management; installing and configuring MySQL on the Linux, Windows 2000, and Mac OS X operating systems; MySQL security; debugging and repairing MySQL databases and servers; MySQL performance tuning; and developing MySQL applications with Perl and PHP.
* Coverage of NuSphere MySQL: Due to the growing popularity of the NuSphere MySQL package, this book covers its enhancements and how to install and develop with NuSphere MySQL.
* Running database application: This book builds an e-commerce sample database application throughout to demonstrate concepts and topics.
ABOUT THE CD-ROM:
What's on the CD-ROM: The CD-ROM includes the latest version of MySQL (either Version 4.0 or 4.1); sample database application and code in the book; and PHP and Perl. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Some good info, but ...
Unfortunately, time and development have passed this book by.It is for MySQL 4.0, which has been FAR surpassed by the newer 5.0 version.

As mentioned by some other reviewers, one of the main problems with the book is the illustrations.They are so dark as to be illegible.Not sure what the people that got the press proofs were thinking when they let that out the door.

The author does a reasonable job on certain areas (hey, can't be all bad if he has a dedication to Eddie Van Halen).

Might want to try the third edition of MySQL by Paul DuBois as a good reference book that is much more up-to-date.

Hopelessly outdated
I have to disagree with many of the reviews of this book.

The MySQL Bible would benefit from more than a simple layout change. Since the advent of the win installer for ver. 4.1.6 gamma of MySQL, the first 5 chapters of this book become useless. There are few explicit example of code (especially regarding how to interact with mysqladmin) extracted from the impossible "dark grey on black" screen captures that are used.

As for the comment that some reviewers have made, that some of the codes provided (when they can be read) are inaccurate or ineffective, I would add only that I have yet to find a snippet of code in the book that actually works.

Maybe there is something usefull in this book, but I haven't found it yet... I only hope that this book has a major revision for 5.0, and that someone in the editorial dept. at Wiley actually looks at pages before they are published.

False advertising
Don't waste your money on this. The book and reviews claim to include binaries and source of MySQL database but the CD-ROM contains neither. Bogus.

Hardly a "bible"
I purchased this book with great anticipation of expanding my knowledge of mySQL and making great us of the section on perl.Overall, I'm very dissapointed.The book itself goes into great detail about certain things that need not such a vast description, yet only privide single examples for some important things.
The CD-ROM is useless.I was expacting it to have code from the book, whereas it's a collection of mySQL apps and programs that you can get free elswhere.
Having explored the perl chapter of the book in greatest detail, it provides inadequite examples with a lot of inneficient coding.
I give the book credit, however, for covering as much ground as it does, mySQL with perl, PHP and ODBC.Overall, however, not worth the money.

Execellent book... layout could be improoved.
Very good book. I'll recomend it to anyone learning MySQL.

Some examples did not work in my server but after contacting the author we/he resolved the problem. Problem was related to new release of PHP. The CD-ROM does not include the examples so be ready to do some typing.

The pictures in the book are hard to see.

Book content *****
Book layout***
CD-ROM **
Author's support ***** ... Read more

Product Description
* Discusses the basic fundamentals including database terminology and concepts.
* Offers an introduction to MySQL and the SQL language, then includes essential tasks to begin using it.
* Explores the essentials of MySQL server management, providing a guide for troubleshooting problems.
* Presents numerous annotated screenshots, tips and tricks.
* Includes a CD-ROM with additional code examples as well as advanced examples using MySQL for UNIX and Windows, PHP for Windows and UNIX, and PHPMyAdmin for UNIX. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good and easy Reading Intro Book.
This book is part of a series of Visual Blueprint (tm) books.the subtitle reads Your visual blueprint to oepn source database mangement.There are others in this series on PHP, XML, and Javascript that I know of.

The format is clear and obvious.Of course with the blue ink and the graphical layout, it is designed to resemble building plans or blueprints.The format is such that each ajoining pages tackle onecommand or subject.The subject is narrow in focus allowing you toconcentrate on that one topic.Examples include topics such as Delete a Column, Understanding Date and Time Functions, View and manage running processes.

On each two-page topic they have included four screen views that are annotated with helpful hints as to what has happened on the screen.Also there is a text portion that analyzes the specific command.On the right page is a text box titled "Extra" that goes into more depth.

This rigid format makes the book easy to read and reference, but it also forces that authors to make a point in no more than several paragraphs sometimes limiting the topics effectivness.

So I liked this book in the way its consistant design and format makes it very easy to read and learn the topics one step at a time.Looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

Great for quick starts
This book is great if you're looking to get started quickly with MySQL.I was able to set up and create a database within hours after buying the book, with only minimal prior exposure to MySQL.Plus, it's a great quick reference for some of the standard MySQL commands that you may not need to use on a super-regular basis.The majority of the teaching is done through diagrams and examples, which allows the user to see what's supposed to happen, and have a gauge of how their performing.The text is just over half of the meat of the book, and really just fills in the blank spots that the diagrams leave out.I highly recommend this book for anyone just getting started with MySQL, but it as you get more proficient, you might want to pass it on to another MySQL newbie, as it may just gather dust on your bookshelf. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (25)

No mention of PHP modules: mysql or mysqli?
The single biggest omission in my opinion is the complete absence of any mention of mysqli -- there is use of the more common php-mysql module, but if this is a book about integrating PHP and MySQL, I really would have expected the php-mysql and php-mysqli modules to take center stage.There is no mention of prepared queries, which is a real shame because the poor quality of the examples on php.net create a real need that could be filled by an informative book.Unfortunately, this is not that book.There is barely any mention of database security, only a brief mention of some of the most basic functions (e.g. add slashes).I really expected a book like this to take on the confusing topic of magic quotes vs. add slashes at least.I got the impression that the authors never have experienced a real-life SQL injection attack.

I work on a lot of sites, and I rarely read these books through start to finish.I have used this book more as a go-to reference when I encounter a problem, but it's really let me down.If I could find the receipt, I'd send it back.

Good starter
This is a good book to get someone going on PHP and MySQL.However, I found myself simply browsing the Internet instead as there appears to be more relevant and thorough tutorials online.

Worst Book I Have Ever Used
This book is full of errors and unexplained concepts. It is the worst book I have ever read. I can't believe the author or editor ever checked to see if there were any errors, and that everything made sense. This is horrible for O'Reilly's reputation. I probably will not buy another O'Reilly book.

In a word, "Terrible."
This book is terribly written. There are typos everywhere, both simple grammar typos and coding/logic typos. For a beginner to the material it is extremely nerve wracking to follow. Not only do the typos throw you for a loop, but it has no logical flow to the material. For example, they go over creating tables in Chapter 7, but you they don't tell you how to use mysql until chapter 8. Then in the middle of chapter 8 (p 137) they tell you to create an NEW database, followed immediately by a section on how to manipulate a table (in this example, `books`) in that new database (p 138). Problem is, ERROR: there are no tables! You just created a new database and it is empty! The table they are referring to was used as an example to explain database concepts in Ch 7 (p 124).

I love(d) my O'Reilly books but I will NEVER buy another one blindly again. Even worse, I read review for the second edition and apparently not much if any of these major problems have been fixed.

I find it extremely hard to believe that anyone who gave this book a decent rating actually used this book to learn PHP & mySQL or even read it through.

A waste of $30 -- ALL NEWBS SHOULD AVOID!
I came to this book as a newbie, with some knowledge of HTML and CSS, and that's about it. This book nearly killed my desire to learn PHP/MySQL.

The problems start early, in Chapter 2. The installation information is seriously flawed. Many of the links they point you to are dead. And even when I went to the book's web site for an updated link, and followed the instructions to the letter, I still wasn't in business. I googled to try to get help and stumbled across some other lost soul using this book, with exactly the same problem as me. Guess what? He was begging for help on a message board somewhere. I should have realized right then that this book was worthless. But I soldiered on.

I managed to get PHP and MySQL downloaded (though the connector was still not working), and started working on some of the PHP coding. I learned some PHP, sure, but it was a slow, slow process. Practical applications? Practice exercises? Clear explanations for inexperienced computer programmers - presumably the kind of people who would be buying a book like this? Rare or nonexistent.

I skipped ahead to the MySQL section, made it in a few pages, and then they recommended that I install PhpMyAdmin. Well, I did, and then I ran into the problem with the lack of connection between PHP and MySQL again. So I went back to Chapter 2, and wasted another hour of my life trying to figure out how to get the past the basic installation issues.

So, yeah, I paid $30 so I could figure it all out for myself. And I still haven't. So thanks a lot, folks. You took $30 of my hard-earned money, and in return gave me several hours of aggravation.

I know the computer experts out there will laugh at this review - they always think they're superior to newbs. But I know I'm not stupid. A better book will teach me the basics of PHP and MySQL, I just need to find it. This one is not newb-friendly. And if a how-to book isn't newb-friendly, then as far as I'm concerned it ain't worth a thing.

NEWBS BEWARE. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. ... Read more

Product Description

For every developer who wants to build production-quality applications using PHP and MySQL. 

In this one-of-a-kind video package, top Web developer and Prentice Hall author Marc Wandschneider shows you exactly how to build reliable, secure, industrial-strength Web applications with PHP and MySQL. You’ll master both PHP and MySQL through 18 comprehensive video lessons, and you’ll have your first PHP/MySQL application running in less than an hour.

Wandschneider shows how to set up PHP on Windows and Mac OS X and then builds your skills by walking you through actual application development projects. Just click, watch, and learn efficient ways to implement user account creation, form validation, cookie and session management, file upload/download, and much more.

Everything’s taught visually, using sample applications ranging from a simple calculator to a full-fledged photo sharing site, and all the sample code is on the DVD.  Programming challenges at the end of each lesson teach you how to take your skills to the next level.  You’ll master essential PHP and MySQL best practices at your own pace and learn how to deliver production-quality PHP/MySQL solutions faster and more effectively.

Customer Reviews (5)

Don't do waste your money
You can find free video tutorials of similar quality on the internet.

Fatal Flaws:

*The paperback book does not follow the video properly. It acts as two different sources of information. Neither is very good.

*The software used in the video is outdated and the newer versions no longer function the same way. PLUS there are better utilities available now.

*The video lessons use examples that are not provided for you, so you can not easily work on an application together.

*The only web resource, [...], is just an affiliate redirect to another site where you can by more books/videos. The creator of[...] will get the commission.

I will NEVER buy any live lessons products.

I would suggest starting w3schools intro to php/mysql, it is not a video, but still very helpful.

Excellent product, make sure you adjust your screen as it suggests!!
I feel I have learned PHP better with this product than the previous few books I have read.The author really does know his subject and is able to communicate his ideas well (for me at least).He goes over a few different aspects of an item to really help drive the information into your brain.My previous review suggested there were no controls, but there are.I ignored the opening window suggesting a resolution (thought mine was already as high as it could go).You can play/pause video and fast forward, backward with a slide bar (awkward but functional).

This is a good product for someone who just needs that extra push to get going on learning PHP.I hope they make more!

PHP - MySQL Video Training Lessons By Marc Wandschneider
This instructor knows this subject.However, he moves along very fast, and he assumes the student has a fairly substantial background in programming.If a student does not have substantial programming savvy, more elementary lessons first might be in order.

easy introduction to PHP and MySQL
Twenty years ago I took some video classes given by the IEEE. These were delivered via satellite. So at a given time, all over the US, people interested could go to some site hosting the event, and then get a lecture on a typically abstruse topic. Unidirectional, because the lecture was prerecorded. Reviewing these livelessons on PHP and MySQL reminded me of those now distant classes. The format is essentially the same. Though perhaps more convenient here, since you have the DVDs in hand and can play and replay them at your convenience.

This video appeals to those people who have trouble studying strictly from the printed word, be it in a book or webpage. I never had any problem with the latters, but there are definitely people who need something like a human tutor to nudge things along. For you, the video can be helpful.

The 18 lessons are about half an hour each. Short and focusing on a precise topic. The accompanying book, well actually it is a slim booklet, summarises the lessons. What the booklet shows is that the lessons don't really have much in them, compared to a fully fledged book on PHP and MySQL. But those books might easily be 500 pages or more and very forbidding to some. If this is your case, then these videos are a far easier and gentler introduction. After which you can move on to more indepth texts.

Very highly recommended
Top Web developer and author Marc Wandschneider shows how to build secure Web applications with PHP and MySQL, offering a blend of booklet and video lessons package showing how to set up PHP on Windows and Mac OS X, and then how to apply development projects. The intense video approach - some 8 hours of video paired with instruction - makes for a powerful learning tool any PHP and MySQL learner needs. Very highly recommended.
... Read more

Product Description
JSP, Servlets, and MySQL is the only book on the market where developers learn how to build a database-driven Web site using JSP, Java servlets, and MySQL. Servlets and JavaServer Pages are ideal tools for affordably and quickly delivering dynamic web pages, and MySQL is an excellent choice for the data repository.

This book explains how to install and use servlets and JavaServer Pages (using the Tomcat reference implementation), how to create, maintain, and use MySQL (and other SQL) databases, and how to deliver dynamic data. It details a complete database-driven web strategy including authentication, user tracking, surveys and discussion areas, and automated user assistance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Covers a lot of territory
David Harms' book is certainly easy to read and is written to a technology level that is, for the most part, easy to understand.Some of his examples, however, assume retained knowledge that was acquired previously.As a result, it is frequently necessary to thumb back through pages that have already been read to ascertain what he is discussing at the moment.As reference material, however, the information contained within the pages is without peers.If you are willing to dig and thoroughly evaluate what you have read, this book has a wealth of positive data.

Personal opinion
I found this book very helpful. I knew nothing about JSP, servlets and mysql. My previous experience came from a standard university course in Java. The book took me through setting up tomcat, mysql,etc. It started me off using the technologies. The book is built around a core example. I didn't reproduce and test the code supplied but dipped in to take what I needed. Downloading the code from the website was confusing. Overall this book has been very helpful. I found the content concise and to the point. Thanks to the author.

A painful read..
The TOC sounded great, so I bought the book.I hate to reiterate what other reviewers have already said, but it's true: there are so many errors it's rediculous.It was painful to figure out why I wasn't understanding some of the material (for example, the SAME SQL statement produces two DIFFERENT result sets on page 208/209)when in fact it was just a very poorly edited book.The book's topics are perfect - now someone needs to go through it with a pitchfork to weed out all the errors.Not to mention that the example code you can download has been refactored (to put it nicely).It's an expensive lesson in wasted money and time and frustration, but from now on, I'll always check the reviews here before ordering any book.

Interesting title with careless content
This book has a very interesting title and the TOC look great too, but unfortunately the content is carelessly chosen/written. I don't want to repeat the error in the code listings. I just want to mention about design problems in this book.

JSP has its born-with problem that it is hard to set boundary for Server Programmer and HTML Programmer. These 2 kinds of work need different skill set. That's why separation of Data and Presention is very important to JSP web site design.

The author of this book carefully avoided to include much JSP code in HTML pages, but his design leads to another extreme: almost every control (forms, buttons, links) are generated by JSP code. This approach will create a nightmare for JSP programmers for changing the appearance of the web site.

So besides coding error, this book has design issues. I really can't imagine who should be the audience...

Just not well done
I picked up this book because I had already decided that I was going to use JSP and MySQL together to create my web site. Quite frankly, I haven't learned anything from this book that wasn't done better in other books, which is a shame because this is an area that really deserves a more thorough treatment. In several areas he just fills several pages with code and hardly explains it at all, other than a few lines--so why bother showing the entire example? This is a clear case where better editorial review would have helped to focus the book on material that would have been more helpful to the reader. ... Read more

Product Description

JDBC Metadata, MySQL, and Oracle Recipes is the only book that focuses on metadata or annotation-based code recipes for JDBC API for use with Oracle and MySQL. It continues where the authors other book, JDBC Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach, leaves off.

Product Description
Unmistakably, the advent of Open Source technologies hasmade a considerable impact upon the IT sector in recent years. Perhapsthe repercussions of this impact resonate no more loudly than in thedatabase sector, where Open Source databasing products offer users acomparable alternative to the costly commercial solutions available onthe market today. One such Open Source database enjoying enormouspopularity is MySQL. Offering very fast and reliable data management,MySQL has come to be depended on by a number of the World's largestand most respected organizations for handling mission criticalinformation.In a successful effort to tackling those issues mostimportant to the reader, Kofler not only concentrates on the MySQLdatabase server itself, but also demonstrates how it can be used inconjunction with various other technologies in order to Web-enable thereader's database information.

Kofler's MySQL introduces the many facets of MySQL, guiding thereader through installation, configuration, and subsequentimplementation of the popular database server. Intermingling MySQLinstruction with valuable general database design philosophy, MySQLproves to be an irreplaceable resource for MySQL novices and expertsalike.

Michael Kofler earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science at GrazTechnical University. He has written a number of successful computerbooks on topics such as Visual Basic, Linux, Mathematica, andMaple. Kofler is also the author of the recently published Apresstitle, Definitive Guide to Excel VBA. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Saved my you-know-what
I committed to doing a MySQL project because it was less expensive overall for my client than using software I'm more familiar with (I'm not naming names but let's just call them SQL Server and .Net).I'm very experienced creating databases but brand new to MySQL and PHP.I don't know how I would have survived without Kofler's book. He not only explains everything step-by-step but in a very relevant, clear way.I had several other books in my arsenal and found I dropped all of them when I needed to look something up and just used Kofler all the way. Everything I needed to do, he had an example for in his demo files!

I know from experience how frustrating it can be not to have the right resources available. Although there are some great user's groups and so on, Kofler's book saved me a ton of time because I found pretty much everything in his book.Using his book and the free, on-line PDF MySQL manual is all you'll need to do a complex business application for the web.

Thanks Kofler. You're my hero!

A very thorough professional book
Very good book. The content is very precise and has content which will be useful to newbie as a well as to a seasoned MySQL user. I recomment it to all.

Very clear!Best book I found on MySQL
This book covers both UNIX/LINUX and Windows for almost every topic - I really like that especially since we run a mixed environment and I'm wanting to learn more LINUX.

I'm a Windows user who needed to setup MySQL that was required by a free message board [;ocal website]).This book made the MySQL portion of the install extremely easy and covered all of the topics I needed to know to setup MySQL in a Windows environment.He covered all the "gotchas" with both Windows and UNIX/LINUX platforms - nice! It also covers setting up and interfacign with PHP, Apache and other system "components" - which really helped me to deploy my message board project.

I enjoyed his writing style so much, I found myself reading the book front to back, versus looking up specific topics - that doesn't happen very often with these types of technical books.

The information is up to date, even though it's over a year old.I checked out the top 3 MySQL books out there and this one was my favorite for getting started clear through advanced usage - there is not a lot of "fluff" - just a clear writing style hitting all the topics.

Great practical book for MySQL and databases in general.
"MySQL" is one of the clearest and coherent computer books I have ever used.I was amazed to find out the book is translated from German.The English translation was very well done as the book reads better than others that have been written originally in English!The book is well laid out with many good illustrations and code samples for MySQL 3.23, the current release.There are numerous pointers and tips throughout the book that really helped a database novice like myself to get the most utility from the book and MySQL.The in-depth section on database design in Chapter 5 was almost worth the whole cost of the book to me!This book truly made me comfortable working with database software, something I had not done prior to acquiring MySQL and Mr. Kofler's book.I look forward to the release of MySQL version 4.0 and I will make sure to get the next edition of the "MySQL" book so that I know that I will have the information I need to know for version 4.0 in a handy, readable form.

Complete MySQL
This is more than just a heplful book. Whether you are a novice or a pro it is an excelent choice. It covers almost everything that one should know about MySQL and gives you also a knowledge of programming with other clients such as database programming for WEB, not only with clients like Visual Basic applications. The book has also support on the authors web site and there I was able to find all the examples written in the book. Nevertheless, I find it very useful, and books like this can only help in the further developement of open-source software and in bringing joy to end-users. ... Read more

Product Description
This update to a Wrox bestseller dives in and guides the reader through the entire process of creating dynamic, data-driven sites using the open source "AMP" model: Apache Web server, the MySQL database system, and the PHP scripting language. The team of expert authors covers PHP scripting, database management, security, integration, and e-commerce functions and comes complete with a useful syntax reference.

• Showcases three fully functional Web site examples, with implementations for both Windows and Linux, that readers can incorporate into their own projects
• Updates include a new chapter on PHP5 features and functions, a new example Web site application, and updates to PHP5 throughout the text

Customer Reviews (20)

Do not buy !!!
I purchased this book after a few minuets of flipping through the first couple of chapters.They seemed to do a good enough job with the WHAT and WHY aspect of learning.That soon changed as I got through further chapters of the book.It's quite evident that the developers of the code/book thought the reader would be able to grasp concepts of the code rather than just plainly explaining HOW and WHY it was written that way.Very frustrating book if you are new to PHP mysql.I then purchased the HEAD FIRST book on beginning PHP and mysql and it was a world of difference.WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY better book.Explains everything in detail (sometimes too much) but you certainly get everything drilled into your brain as any good teacher would do to make sure you absolutely understand your topic.Anyway, this book here was a waste of time and is, from my perspective, a suckers snare trap if you're new and not sure what book to start with.It is a big book though, and I'm sure it will make for good fire starter!

Not exactly what I was looking for
I liked the premise so much that I ignored the warnings of others harmed before me.

Yes this is yet another left-hemisphere didactic that simply does not work in a learning paradigm.

Combine the dreary approach with with the more- than- plentiful coding errors, several per page, and you have it! The reason I took the time here, which I otherwise would not have considered.

Six chapters and out, capitalism lives, at the cost of three days of my life.

Incorrect code and bad programming
I'm not very happy with this book.The code examples contain errors - even the latest versions of the some of the pages that you can download from their website won't run because of things like missing curly braces or similar type-o's.I would understand a couple of errors here or there, but surely they could make sure that the code they put in the book and online actually runs?

Also, the programming advice and style they give isn't very good, and occasionally contradicts each other from one chapter to another.I have experience with other programming languages, so I know that some of the ways that they recommend you do things are both more complicated and less efficient than other ways.

All that said, I am learning what I wanted to learn - I just think there must be better books than this out there!

Muy buen libro
Buen libro para comenzar a programar en PHP, trae cosas utiles, desde la instalacio de los componentes separados, hasta manejo de imagenes, conexion a mysql, etc.

This is an awful book
I have read several PHP-MySQL books recently. I would not recommend purchase or even wasting time reading this book. Others have said it is very out of date with MySQL and it is, however it also has so many errors in the sample code it makes the language near impossible to learn. The downloaded code from the 'Wrox' site is no better. After 3 years on the site it hasn't been fixed. All one needs to do is look at the book's forum on the site, particularly threads about Chapter 6 and Chapter 10 to see the un-addressed errors. Readers have attempted to post fixes but often it's a case of the blind leading the blind as their fixes don't work either. This book was basically a minor rewrite of the same book published in 2004 with most of the same errors. It was also written by committee which is rarely a good book to buy. In this case the authors can stand in a circle and point left as to whose fault this rotten code is. They and the publisher apparently have no shame or sense of duty to correct the online code so the book would be useful. A new version is due in 2009 with most of the same authors but after two failures I don't see how this update will be more accurate. I did down load the Chapter 10 code of the new book and found that it works. However they did not just fix this books code, they completely rewrote the code and simplified it making it not so useful to use for this book. I know this review is very harsh but I believe it is well deserved by all those involved in publishing this book. ... Read more

Product Description
(Michael Kofler) did the hard work of taking the documentation and sifting through it to bring the useful parts together clearly and concisely. Definitive indeed.

— Craig Maloney, Slashdot Contributor

This second edition of Michael Kofler's acclaimed MySQL book has updated and expanded to cover MySQL 4.0, the most recent production release of the popular open source database, which boasts more than 4 million users worldwide.

Like the first edition, this revision, which has been renamed to reflect the breadth and depth of Kofler's coverage of the topic, provides a thorough introduction to the installation, configuration, implementation, and administration of MySQL. In addition, Kofler demonstrates how you can use MySQL in conjunction with various other technologies to create database-driven websites, and he gives practical advice on database design. Kofler also covers what's coming up next in MySQL 4.1.

The Definitive Guide to MySQL, Second Edition is an irreplaceable resource for MySQL novices and experts alike.

Customer Reviews (3)

Title is not indicative of book's organization or content
Because of the very high reviews of this book, I purchased it in the hopes of getting a quick introduction to and solid reference for MySQL.I wanted a handy book on my shelf primarily on MySQL, so "The Definitive Guide to MySQL" seemed like an appropriate source.
Unfortunately, the book expects the installation of several non-essential packages beyond the MySQL client and server.These include Apache, PHP, phpMyAdmin, and Perl (Chapter 2).Then, the introductory example (Chapter 3) is mostly about programming and testing an application in PHP with a MySQL database as a backend.At this point, I realized that the organization of the book did not meet my needs and purchased "MySQL (Third Edition)" by Paul DuBois, the organization of which demonstrates that it really concentrates on MySQL and which is actually the definitive guide I was originally looking for.
I am a professor of computer science at a research university and require resouces that immediately focus on the technical details of the package and get me up to speed quickly and in a logical progression.While Kofler's book is probably fine for some potential readers, I cannot recommend it due to its inadequate focus on MySQL.

A Must for MySQL Developers and Administrators Alike
The Definitive Guide to MySQL is a thorough, yet easy to understand resource for enhancing your database skills and knowledge.This book isn't just another version of the MySQL documentation.It teaches the reader a great deal about relational database design and all of the options to consider beforehand, such as choosing a table type, when and where to use indexes, etc.The book also provides a solid understanding of administering a MySQL installation, exploring such topics as performance tuning, backups, replication, and upgrades.

For those on the programming side, you will find information on creating applications using a wide variety of languages, including PHP, Perl, Java, C++, and Visual Basic, although PHP is the most extensively covered.

Overall, I'd say Michael Kofler did an excellent job on this book.All of the examples and explanations are clear and concise.If you are simply looking for a quick MySQL function reference, stick with the documentation.However, if you want to really learn how to get the most out of MySQL, this book is a must.

Great Resource - one of the best
Fully updated to include information on MySQL 4.0 and 4.1 "The Definitive Guide to MySQL, Second Edition" is one of the most through and yet easily understandable texts on MySQL available.The author assumes no previous knowledge of SQL or even database theory and design so you really start at the beginning.In fact chapter five, database design, is one of the more lucid explanations of relational databases and design theory that I have read anywhere.

Another item that differentiates this book from others of the same genre is the inclusion of a chapter of SQL recipes.This chapter is basically a cookbook that takes the most common tasks you may need to accomplish with your MySQL database and provides a recipe to accomplish that task.

It includes coverage of InnoDB tables (very important in a multi-user environment) and many other items besides the usual installation, administration, and configuration items you would expect.Of course, if you are writing a MySQL application you will have to use some sort of programming language to write your program.In keeping with the OpenSource theme of the book it includes extensive coverage of PHP, Perl, Java, C, C++, Visual Basic, C#, and ODBC.The book does not pretend to teach any of these programming languages but provides the information to use them with MySQL if you know that particular language.As a regular user of PHP, Perl, Visual Basic, and ODBC connections I found the coverage to be excellent, including everything you need to know to connect to the database and do whatever you need.

The book ends with an excellent reference section, a section on MySQL Tools, and even a section an API reference.In short it is one of the most exhaustive books on the subject and provides everything for a new user as well as complete reference coverage for an experienced user, programmer, or administrator."The Definitive Guide to MySQL, Second Edition" is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning, administering, or programming MySQL. ... Read more

Product Description
MySQL is the leading open-source database platform, and its popularity has grown with the widespread adoption of PHP for interactive web applications. With version 4, MySQL has added many new features and shown itself to be ready for widespread use. Mastering MySQL is a comprehensive guide to this new version, for both developers and administrators who want to get the most out of MySQL. It provides thorough coverage of SQL, both for the beginner and advanced user, as well as database design and normalization--topics often ignored in much database development. Readers will learn how to configure and optimize MySQL for high-volume usage and get the most out of the various transactional and non-transactional table types. Readers also get full coverage of common database tasks, including backup, maintenance, and replication. There is also a chapter on database security issues, a section on programming with MySQL, and references for most popular programming languages, including PHP, Perl, Java, Python and C/C++. Author Ian Gilfillan is lead developer for South Africa's premier news portal, has developed and taught web and database programming courses, and has written technical articles on MySQL. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent
I found this book to be my very best friend when I started doing a lot of MySQL, and I use it often as a reference now.

The book is a great A-Z of everything MySQL 4.

It is a great technical read with lots of examples, clear concise reflection, and a fantastic appendix.

Excellent book
I like the tool coverage in this MySQL book -- it covers a lot of features which I haven't read about elsewhere, and appears to focus on practical solutions. Based on the three weeks I have been referring to this book, I would say it is the best MySQL book available.

Since it ostensibly covers version 4, the author should have covered secure socket connections in greater detail and given examples of its use. I would also have liked to see references to the text in the otherwise valuable appendix B. Overall, it seems very free of fluff and the examples seem to focus on the case in point.

Excellent book.

Rich in examples and very thorough
While I am not new to databases, I am new to mysql and always spend the most time learning new syntax, processes and "features". The MySQL manual is very clear but left some questions unanswered for me. Mastering MySQL left me with no such gaps, and the numerous in-depth examples (including output) in this book help clarify commands and proper syntax. The book covers everything from installation to administration and includes syntax and function/operator references. These references are clearly detailed and contain a generous number of examples as well.

The book is written from a hands-on point of view which is how I learn best. One very nice aspect of the book is that it provides information for Windows and UNIX environments as opposed to focusing on one or the other.

There are very handy sections on several of the programming APIs, including PHP, Perl, Python, Java, C, ODBC and .NET.

Database beginners will find the sections on Understanding Relational Databases, Database Normalization and Database Design very helpful in understanding database terminology and functionality.

Finally, there is a very detailed index in the back of the book - I really dislike not being able to locate a topic in an index, especially when I know I read it somewhere in the book.

This is a very good overall book for the MySQL database and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to learn about MySQL. ... Read more

Product Description

PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution shows the development process for a website using a specific set of technologies: the Apache web server, the MySQL database system, and the PHP scripting language. It gives you a completely hands-on experience and guides you through the construction of a complete application-driven site from design to deployment.

Each chapter in the book is broken into three parts:

• Problem: The authors analyze each task and identify areas that may be particularly hard to implement.
• Design: Once the problems have been identified, a proposal is sketched out for solving them.
• Solution: The code is developed and deployed to accomplish the task at hand.

Throughout the book, good object-oriented PHP coding methods are used where appropriate. The site you construct features a modular design, so the individual chapters are generally focused on designing and building a specific piece of the site's functionality.

This invaluable tutorial provides a lot of insight into the ways you can implement web applications with PHP and MySQL in real-world situations.

Customer Reviews (13)

Solid, even for non-php people; a lot of interesting design concepts.
Chris Lea et al., PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (Apress, 2002)

I've been bulking up on PHP/MySQL books recently as I transition my household machines to Linux and prepare to implement a webserver to hold my book database and the painfully simple font-end I've designed to work with it. The more I read, the more convinced I am that PHP isn't exactly what I need (though since that's an issue of preference, I won't be addressing it in this review), but MySQL has always seemed the way to go for Linux databases, and so I'm still devouring these things. I have yet to come across one that really gets into intricate databases on the web (the book database is currently thirty tables without factoring in logins, permissions, and the like), but this is the most complex of the lot so far. Unfortunately, it sticks with MyISAM, and indicates that's the usual convention when dealing with webhosts. This does answer a few questions I've had for years about why website updates sometimes seem inconsistent, anyway (MyISAM, at least at the time this book was written, didn't support foreign keys, leaving the programmers to make sure relations were enforced in code; the possible problems should be obvious). Still, this book covered a lot of ground I haven't come across in other PHP/MySQL web design books before, and that was easily worth the price of admission.

Lea and his cohorts take the reader through the construction of a complete website, with a number of features one would expect to see (discussion fora, polls, basic ecommerce, etc.). As a side note, the website used as an example in the book is still out there on the web as of this writing, though I did get a number of unspecified database errors while wandering through it (and it hasn't been updated in a long, long time). In any case, the layout of the book, and much of the code used in it, is simple and straightforward. While that makes a great deal of sense from a teaching standpoint, it does tend to exacerbate some of the inherent problems with using MyISAM as a database scheme for web development, and the authors seem to dismiss some of those problems (such as the lack of foreign keys I mentioned; yes, it's certainly good programming practice for the programmers to check for errors before the data gets passed, but having another layer of built-in error checking isn't ever extraneous) rather than discussing them rationally. More importantly, however, the book discusses building a home-rolled content management system. With the recent rise (and explosion in popularity) of out-of-the-box CMSes like Joomla! and Drupal, this might seem like overkill, but let's face it: how many people out there building websites are actually going to need even 20% of the features you find in a CMS written for the purpose of trying to please everyone all the time? Lea et al. offer a much lighter-weight option that even the novice web-building geek can easily extend and customize.

All in all, a lot here of worth. I actually picked this one up at the store instead of getting it out of the library, and while I'm not sure how much of the actual code I'm going to use, some of the design concepts made it worth the price of admission by themselves; everything else is icing on the cake. *** ½

Its a good book, but....
The book is great. It comes with layouts of code on how to do pages like forums, creating ads, and taking polls. The only problem I had was using PEAR DB. As far as I know Pear is relatively new and it was way too hard to try and figure out how to incorporate that into my Database. I was using MySQL on CRUX, and for me it was difficult to figure out. They also use a lot of require_once lines. I know what they are used for, but the code was so long that for one page they used require_once for multiple different pages. I think for a beginner, this book is not the way to go. For people who have no dea what PEAR is or how to set it up, this book Not the way to go. If your experienced somewhat in PHP and know Pear, knock yourself out!

For me, the book was too advanced, I have done some web sites in PHP but not at this level. Hope I helped some people with their decision.

Not for the beginner orintermediate programmer
There is absolutely no PHP or My-Sql teaching in this book.If your looking to see how a professional group of programmers use functions and how they outline their sites then this book is for you.BUT if you're looking for a book to learn any PHP My-Sql programming, don't buy this book.But if you do buy it, buy it used... It's not worth the new book price.

Don't bother with this useless book
It appears as if most of the earlier reviews for this book were for the first edition. (Which brings up a good question - WHY is this book now useless?)

As with essentially every other book I've spent $40 - $50 for, this one is filled with poor content and code that does NOT work. If you look at the "sample" website for this book that uses the code that this book is supposed to help you build (which is now gone), many people hit a roadblock by page 28! The site is filed with comments from others who have been stuck on the same problem and can't move on. Perhaps the most revealing question there is "has anyone been successful in getting all the way through the book?" Not surprisingly, no one has answered.

The publisher's site still does not include an errata sheet (that would be asking too much), six YEARS after this book was first published.

Don't bother buying this one - unless you enjoy throwing another $50 down the toilet. I bought this book based upon the positive reviews found here - little did I realize that the second edition must be worse than the first!

Maybe Not So Hot...
I know all of the other reviews are glowing, but I was actully disappointed by this book. While it is very thorough, I found the structure of the book to be haphazard and unintuitive. There are a lot of occurances of "but first, lets go back a bit," a sure sign of poor writing. While trying to keep to the problem-design-solution framework, the authors often introduced ideas in the problem phase, but never clearly addressed them in the design and solution phase -- often vaguely tying it all together with a statement like "and we took care of this problem as well" without really referencing it.

There is a great deal of information in this book, but I found it very difficult to extract coherently. And saying "but its not for beginners" is no excuse for poor writing. ... Read more