MySQL (Q2739735)

MySQL is about installation, configuration, and administration of as well as application development with the open source relational database system MySQL. The book is divided into 6 parts as follows: The introductory part cursorily presents MySQL (including licensing issues), installation of a test environment, and a sample MySQL application. The second part deals with fundamentals such as user MySQL interfaces, database design, SQL and MySQL security aspects. The third, example-driven part is about programming MySQL application using PHP, Perl, and MyODBC. Part four covers administrative issues (e.g., taking backups, data im- and export, logging) and assorted topics (e.g., internationalization, transaction handling, replication). The last two parts contain references (for the MySQL SQL dialect, various MySQL tools, and PHP as well as Perl APIs), lists of error codes, and a description of the Web site for the book, where code for the book's examples can be downloaded and tested.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEMySQL suffers from two major drawbacks. First, there is no clear target audience for this book. The overall presentation seems to address database novices who are familiar with either PHP or Perl, and the author tries to convey the impression of a self-contained book (except for the part on MyODBC that requires a solid background in ADO). However, in view of the shortcomings sketched next, database novices must urgently be warned against this book. Second, the author seems to be an expert for MySQL internals bu lacks even a modest amount of understanding of database concepts. Some evidence: The explanation why relational databases are called ``relational'' on p. 4 and p. 130 is not very convincing. The author does not make a clear difference between a database model and a database schema (p. 6) or between a key and an index (pp. 6-7, 142).NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe presentation of database design (chapter 5) is a disaster: the existence of design processes, requirements analysis, or conceptual design are not even mentioned; in contrast, database design is reduced to a mixture of logical and physical design with visualization issues; normal forms are distorted to the point where they become unrecognizable. The SQL standard has evolved considerably since 1992 (pp. 9, 141), but SQL:1999 is not mentioned. Unsatisfactory explanations for deadlocks are given multiple times on pp. 510, 512, 516 and in parenthesis only. The transaction concept is introduced without references to ACID properties or update anomalies. Finally, I doubt that this book has much to offer that goes beyond the MySQL documentation (at least for readers with a background in PHP or Perl).