MySQL Cookbook
This book conatins lots of solutions to specific common and not so common mySQL problems and with the range of languages covered you should be able to work out how to apply the solution even if the programming language isn't Ruby Perl, PHP,Python or Java.
My Rating: 
Pros
- Covers five of the most popular languages used with mySQL databases
- Problems grouped together in a logical way so that even if your specific problem isn't sovered the solutions that are given should give you lots of clues to how to solve any problem.
- Lots of example code to show you how it really works
- Covers a wide range of different types of problems.
Cons
- The huge size of the book may put some people off.
- Not a reference.
- Does not teach mySQL, it assumes that you have at least some knowledge of how to use it.
Description
- Second Edition: November 2006
- 948 page paperback
- Published by O'Reilly Media
- ISBN: 0-596-52708-X
- Solutions and Examples for Database Developers and DBAs
- Author Paul DuBois
Review
This book is huge and like the other books in the cookbook series the primary purpose of the book is to provide real solutions to real life problems. One of the reasons for the huge size of this book is that it takes the programming language that is being used with mySQL into account and provides coding solutions for not just one but five of the most popular programming languages that are used with mySQL databases. Even if you aren't using one of those five most of the other languages that can be used with mySQL will at least resemble one or more of the languages that is covered to allow you to work out how to convert the presented solutions into just about any programming language.
This is not a book to teach you mySQL, it is the book that you get after you already have at least some knowledge of mySQL and are starting to face real problems of how to use mySQL to solve specific problems. It doesn't teach you how to design databases either so it wont help you in working outhow what tables you should have and what to put in each. What it will do is to help you work out how to use those tables most effectively once you have finished designing your database. It will also assist you in working out what data types to use for the fields that you have in your table and how to make your database accesses more efficient by setting up your database queries to work in the most effective way reducing the need for as much programming code around the call to perform the required task.
