Re: Which Oracle books to buy

"Randy Harris" <randy_at_SpamFree.com> wrote in message news:DKlhb.70$P%1.73625_at_newssvr28.news.prodigy.com...
>
> "Thomas T" <T_at_T> wrote in message news:3f85b86d$1_at_rutgers.edu...
> > > "Kari Laine" <kari.laine_at_dnainternet.net> wrote in message
> > > news:3f843d88$1_at_news.dnainternet.net...
> > > > Hi All,
> > > >
> > > > I am starting to learn Oracle. Administration and also programming.
I
> > plan
> > > > to learn how to use ADO with Oracle and I think there is also an
> oracle
> > > way
> > > > to access (CLI). Anyway I have budgeted to buy 4-5 books and now I
> would
> > > > like to get the best ones. I don't want the ones which practically
> only
> > > > duplicate the product manuals.
> > > >
> > > > I once read an Oracle book in which were also examples how to write
> > stored
> > > > procs with Java(tm). It was on Linux env. I can't recall the title
> > > anymore.
> > > >
> > > > Please recommend.
> > > >
> > > > Best Regards
> > > > Kari
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > "Randy Harris" <randy_at_SpamFree.com> wrote in message
> > news:DxYgb.11$_v.12553_at_newssvr28.news.prodigy.com...
> > > Kari, I have a book that I simply can't recommend strongly enough if
you
> > > plan to use VB with Oracle. It has superb discussions of relational
> > theory,
> > > database design, Oracle architecture, SQL, PL/SQL, application
interface
> > and
> > > comparison of ADO with other libraries. The only negative is that the
> > copy
> > > that I have (dog-eared and pages falling out) is a bit dated, so it
> > doesn't
> > > go into some of the newer features of Oracle. I don't know whether a
> newer
> > > edition is available or not.
> > >
> > > Oracle Programming with Visual Basic
> > > Nick Snowden
> > > Sybex
> > > ISBN: 0-7821-2322-8
> >
> > One minor problem I have with that book idea- ADO/Oracle isn't just a VB
> > thing. For that matter, ADO isn't an Oracle thing! ADO is the same
> > everywhere. You'll have access to ADO command, recordset, connection,
etc
> > objects in any of the .NET languages- not just VB. And you can use the
> ADO
> > objects with any database- even text files. Don't concentrate on
learning
> > ADO with Oracle. Just learn ADO. I hope that makes sense- ADO works
> > everywhere. If you can understand how ADO works, you'll be able to pair
> it
> > with any database you like. In fact, most ADO books start off with
using
> > Microsoft Access (ugh!) as a database. (And I'm sure you know this, but
> > never use MS Access for anything remotely serious in the business
world!)
> > You might better be paired with a couple Oracle-specific books, and one
> > ADO-intensive book. If a book talks about ADO with C#, so be it!
You'll
> be
> > able to apply it to VB without any difficulty! ADO is ADO, anywhere it
> > appears.
> >
> > Keep this in mind: Stay away from pre-made VB controls such as the data
> > grid. Yes, the grid is fun and quick- but it's in no way useful. At
the
> > (..snip..)
>
> Thomas,
>
> You make some very good points. In my own defense, I did preface my
> recommendation of the book with the condition that the plan was to use VB
> with Oracle.
>
> I am very surprised by one of your comments, however, and would much
> appreciate further clarification. Keeping indexes on a different physical
> disk from the tables they are built on, is a myth? I thought that was a
> recommended practice. Please explain.
>
> Randy

Randy, I wasn't really arguing against your book- in fact I haven't seen it myself- but I just offered a different learning track. In fact, the booklist I gave might make matters worse, since my point was to learn ADO separate from Oracle and separate from VB. It might make more sense to learn ADO/Oracle/VB all at once, and then apply it to the rest of Microsoft's programming suite. But that's what makes programmers different! Since Kari said she budged for 4 or 5 books, I used up her budget in one trip to the bookstore, with no room for a mocha latte. (laughs)

As to the myth bit, there's a ton out there- I've used Oracle since 7.3, and after recently (2 or 3 months ago) finding out about the myths, I'm still in a bit of shock. For a great explanation on the index/data disk issue, see this message at Tom Kyte's website:
http://asktom.oracle.com/pls/ask/f?p=4950:8:::::F4950_P8_DISPLAYID:5071430793941 At that page, read the link to google- its' from a discussion from oracle.server that happened last year. Another myth you might want to dig up would be the periodic scheduling (ex: once a month) re-building of indexes to "reclaim" disk space, see
http://asktom.oracle.com/pls/ask/f?p=4950:8:::::F4950_P8_DISPLAYID:6601312252730, for that bit.

Definately search google.com for "Oracle Myths", and "Oracle Tuning Myths"- you'll find a lot of shockers. Most of these myths were valid back in the 90's, and everyone's just taken them as fact since then. That's what I love about these newsgroups- it's the "real world" versus the "book world".

-Thomas Received on Fri Oct 10 2003 - 11:25:37 CDT