Re: Beginners' Book Recommendations

In article <armen-2801960511090001_at_hingham23.pcix.com>, armen_at_pcix.com writes:

> Hello,
> 
> I'm interested in learning the basics of RDBMS and SQL, but I'm a total
> newbie in this field. Could anyone offer recommendations on good books
> with which to start?
> 

From the yet unreleased Sybase FAQ Version 2.1, Q7.2:

Q7.2: Net Book Review

• Sybase
• Sybase Architecture and Administration
• Developing Sybase Applications
• Sybase Developer's Guide
• Sybase DBA Survival Guide
• Guide to SQL Server
• Client/Server Development with Sybase
• Physical Database Design for Sybase SQL Server
• High Performance Relational Database Design

Sybase - McGoveran and Date

ISBN: 0-201-55710-X Published by Addison-Wesley. 450 pages.

I think that once, not too long ago, this used to be the only book on Sybase available. Now it seems to be totally out of print! It covered versions of Sybase SQL server up to 4.8. It covered a number of aspects of Sybase, including APT.

Sybase Architecture and Administration - Kirkwood

ISBN: 0-13-100330-5 Published by Ellis Horwood. 404 pages.

This is a good book covering Sybase systems up to and including System 10. It deals to a good depth the architecture and how most of the functions such as the optimiser work. It explains in a readable style how devices work, and how indexes are stored and manipulated.

Developing Sybase Applications - Worden

ISBN: 0-672-30700-6 Published by SAMS. ??? pages. (Inc CD.)

This books seems very similar to number 4 to me and so I have not bought it. I have browsed through several times in the book shop, and decided that his other book covers a good deal of this. There are chapters on Visual Basic and Powerbuilder.

Sybase Developer's Guide - Worden

ISBN: 0-672-30467-8 Published by SAMS. 698 pages. (Inc disk.)

This is a big book that does not, in my opinion, cover very much. In fact the disk that is included contains DBATools, and that seems to sum up the first 50% of the book. There is a fair amount of coverage of the general architecture and how to install Sybase. Transact SQL, cursors and stored procedures get a fair covering, as does using C/C++ with DB-Library. (I can find no mention of CT-Library.) Unfortunately quite a lot of the book covers general issues which are not covered in sufficient depth to be useful, and just seem to be there to give the book bulk. Maybe as a developer's guide, his other book would be a better buy. This would probably be most useful to a small company implementing a Sybase database.

Sybase DBA Survival Guide - Jeff Garbus, David Solomon, Brian Tretter

ISBN: 0-672-30651-4 Published by SAMS. 506 pages. (Inc disk.)

This book is good, and is a great help in a crisis. It includes lots of useful ideas and strategies for most (if not all) of the DBA tasks. It covers Sybase SQL Server on all platforms. It does not specifically cover any of the Microsoft versions, and certainly not version 6. It does cover System 10. It is very good at explaining the output from things like the DBCC commands. There is also a good section on what to look for in the errorlog. If you are a DBA and want to buy just one book, I would recommend this one since it covers just about everything you will need to know. This book is filled with little hints, tips and warnings which are very useful. They have certainly saved my bacon on a number of occasions, and have even made me look a real star more than once.

Guide to SQL Server - Aloke Nath

ISBN: 0-201-62631-4 Published by Addison-Wesley. 567 pages.

This book is solely about MS SQL Server, covering 4.2 for OS/2 and SQL Server NT. It is not bad, but does seem to regurgitate a lot from the Sybase [sic] manuals. Its coverage is fairly broad dealing with Transact SQL on the one hand through to client configuration on the other. It does cover the aspects of MS Sqlserver that are different from Sybase, (dbcc perfmon for instance) but it does not flag any as such. Probably a good buy if you only have MS Sqlserver and never intend looking at Sybase.

Client/Server Development with Sybase - Berson

ISBN: ???? Published by McGraw-Hill. ??? pages.

I know nothing about this book apart from its title and author. A similar book by the same author on Client Server architectures is very good. This is part of the McGraw-Hill "academic" series.

Physical Database Design for Sybase SQL - Rob Gillette, Dean Meunch, Jean Tabaka

ISBN: 0-13-161523-8 Published by Prentice-Hall. 225 pages.

Supposedly the first in a series from Sybase Professional Services, espousing the Sybase Development Framework or SDF (tm). I've seen no more books, and have never heard any more about SDF. This book is a reasonable attempt to guide developers through the process of turning a logical database design into a physical Sybase implementation.

Topics include:

• Defining Tables and Columns
• Defining Keys
• Identifying Critical Transactions
• Adding Redundant Columns
• Adding Derived Columns
• Collapsing Tables
• Splitting Tables
• Handling Supertypes and Subtypes
• Duplicating Parts of Tables
• Adding Tables for derived Data
• Handling Vector Data
• Generating Sequence Numbers
• Specifying Indexes
• Maintaining Row Uniqueness
• Handling Domain Restrictions
• Handling Referential Integrity
• Maintaining Derived and Redundant data
• Handling Complex Integrity Constraints
• Controlling Access to Data
• Managing Object Sizes
• Recommending Object Placement
• Required Inputs to Physical DB Design
• Naming Guidelines

Covers System 10. Lots of good practical hints and guidelines on database design. In the absence of any competition - a definite recommendation for newcomers to Sybase database design.

High Performance Relational Database Design - Kirkwood

ISBN: 0-13-030198-1 Published by Ellis Horwood. 263 pages.

This book deserves a mention, partly because it is very good and partly because it does have a chapter about Sybase optimisation. It is a very good book and should be a must for all DBAs and anyone designing and building database applications.

Pablo Sanchez              | Ph # (415) 933.3812        Fax # (415) 933.2821
pablo_at_sgi.com              | Pg # (800) 930.5635  -or-  pablo_p_at_corp.sgi.com
===============================================================================

• pablo