10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent book on advanced SQL but much to be desired, Feb 21 2009
By Harsha N. Hegde - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Advanced Oracle SQL Programming: The Expert Guide to Writing Complex Queries (Paperback)
I am an ardent reader of Laurent Schneider's blog: http://laurentschneider.com/. His deep understanding of databases is unparalleled. The tips he provides are very practical and handy. That's probably what raised my expectations from his book: "Advanced Oracle SQL Programming". I have just finished reading through this book and I can clearly say that I am a bit disappointed with the book.
- It feels more like a collection of Laurent's notes on various Oracle SQL topics.
- There is a disconnect between one topic and the next one.
- Topics are very brief, often not exceeding 3-4 sentences. Much more detailed discussion/analysis of each concept would have made the book more readable.
- More tips/tricks (like the ones in boxes with an explosive symbol) would have made me go back to this book often.
- This may sound trivial, but the formatting of the code unnecessarily takes up too much space. e.g, in the first chapter itself, all the "INSERT" statements run to 8 pages! They could have easily been arranged 2 columns/page. They are not even required because it is available for download anyway at the book's website.
Nice things I found in the book:
- Exercise problems are really good, will make you think.
- Explanation on Joins, Subquery and Hierarchical queries are so far the best I have read.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
ADavanced Oracla SQL, Nov 13 2009
By Richard John - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Advanced Oracle SQL Programming: The Expert Guide to Writing Complex Queries (Paperback)
I found most of the book to be a rehash of other material Oracle published. Most of the SQL I would not consider advanced. I felt if a intermediate at best. I bought this book about 6 months ago and after reading I have only used it once or twice as reference. There is some stuff in one of the middle chapters, but overall I was disappointed.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poorly written, and confusing, April 12 2010
By Joshua E. Emery - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Advanced Oracle SQL Programming: The Expert Guide to Writing Complex Queries (Paperback)
Probably the worst Technical book I have ever read. It is poorly formatted, and some paragraphs just do not make sense. Examples are weak, and not explained leaving you to toil over it to figure what the writter is trying to accomplish. I highly recommend avoiding this book. Do not make the costly mistake I did.