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Paul DuBois is a seasoned MySQL DBA and documentation contributor whose experience shines through in what proves to be a top-drawer example of Cookbookery.
Primarily aimed at assisting those who are up to their elbows in development of MySQL-based software, the author is forgiving and flexibile regarding the depth of explanations offered throughout. Earlier chapters cover "newbie" territory with an appropriate amount of patience whilst offering technical asides on other system fundamentals which may get in the way of installing and setting up your first MySQL server.
As is the norm for technical cookbooks, the heat is turned up as the reader moves through the chapters. However, there is always sufficient background offered along with code samples and gotchas which provide clear answers in a helpful and reasonably brisk manner.
For those who infrequently stray from the path of simple SQL statements, or who are not full-time DBAs, this text may form a frequent yet fleeting coding companion.
The text reviewed is the first edition which covers MySQL 4.0 - so no treatment of stored routines or triggers. (At time of writing a second edition is out which covers MySQL 5.0 and 4.1.) Wherever version-related feature foibles raise their head, the author clearly identifies the version boundaries where differences in functionality occur.
Summary
As cookbooks go, and as the furred edges of my review copy will testify, this one really delivers. I'm happy to recommend this text to developers of MySQL-based code who haven't been there, seen it and got the t-shirt.
Table of contents
MySQL Cookbook Ch 1. Using the mysql Client Program Ch 2. Writing MySQL-Based Programs Ch 3. Record Selection Techniques Ch 4. Working with Strings Ch 5. Working with Dates and Times Ch 6. Sorting Query Results Ch 7. Generating Summaries Ch 8. Modifying Tables with ALTER TABLE Ch 9. Obtaining and Using Metadata Ch 10. Importing and Exporting Data Ch 11. Generating and Using Sequences Ch 12. Using Multiple Tables Ch 13. Statistical Techniques Ch 14. Handling Duplicates Ch 15. Performing Transactions Ch 16. Introduction to MySQL on the Web Ch 17. Incorporating Query Results into Web Pages Ch 18. Processing Web Input with MySQL Ch 19. Using MySQL-Based Web Session Management Appendix A. Obtaining MySQL Software Appendix B. JSP and Tomcat Primer Appendix C. References Index
