Patric Lagny said
For the occasional MySQL programmer this book is a must. I use MySQL to a small degree in my recent game project and this book gives me all the knowledge I need to write simple queries in C++
W. Brian Dill said
I've always liked O'Reilly books, and this is no different. It's a small no-fluff reference that makes for a good read as well. The book is physically small enough to fit unobtrusively in your laptop bag without causing too much of a bulge.
Since it is written as a pocket reference, it of course doesn't have all the commands or even all the variants/options for commands. What is does have are the commands and syntax that you are likely to use the most with some good examples.
Just know what you are and are NOT getting. It's not a bible, a step-by-step, or a cookbook. It is (as it is labeled) a pocket reference, at which it excels. Highly recommended.
Midwest Book Review said
George Reese's MY SQL POCKET REFERENCE 2ND EDITION covers Version 5.1 and provides SQL statements, functions, and insights into its variations and utilities. Explanations are accompanied by tables and examples for maximum efficiency.
Rob Wehrli said
Reese hits a solid triple to start the inning off and scores easily on the wild pitch thrown by the reader who says that the GRANT section is wrong.
This book works easily and appropriately at your deskside. I found the book to be a very simple, easy-to-navigate reference text that presents the most important aspects of MySQL in the quickest, most logical manner.
It is very easy to thumb through with every possible random page landing at a topic of interest. In a way, it was like working with a familiar dictionary, you know the kind, where you just kind of naturally crack it open near the word you're accessing and flip a couple of pages either direction to arrive at the exact reference location.
In that vein, I'd perhaps recommend that the margins contain "bread crumbs" telling us where we are in the book, but it isn't necessary since thicker sections often obviate themselves with just another page turn. Each page does have the chapter title in the margin, so my point is really one of nit-pickieness rather than a true critique.
To its credit, the layout of the book presents the content in a manner that follows the O'Reilly "risen bar" standard. It is easy to scan through the entire reference flipping pages as quickly as possible so that you are able to arrive at your sought information within as much as a second or two. The bold text draws your eye to the page and the size of the page allows one to capture everything in a single glance.
In my usage of the book, I found it very accurate and useful. I am a regular MySQL user and the formatting is very familiar to me. I highly recommend this book. If you are already familiar with SQL and the basics of database schema design, this is the perfect reference. I found it amazingly faster than loading the MySQL PDF manual and searching through potentially dozens of hits for the keywords sought. Even at the full cover price, this book is a value-added service at my side.
The sections on operators, functions, stored procedures and triggers make this book an invaluable tool for the DBA or programmer who knows the material, but fails to remember every single aspect about the syntax AND who is tired of seeing that familiar:
"You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near..."
The text also finds welcomed complement from the numerous examples of using commands and SQL keywords. They are invaluable for immediately deciphering the sometimes too-numerous options of a command.
I don't know that the book has taught me anything new at this point, but it certainly makes finding the details of what I already know much easier. Because of its brevity and its ease-of-use, it has made me want to play around with some of the various features of MySQL that I do not regularly use. That alone is going to teach me something new sooner or later!
If your budget is constrained to a single reference item on MySQL, you can't go wrong with this very portable pocket reference.
The back cover says: "When you reach a sticking point, but have to get to a solution quickly, MySQL Pocket Reference is the book you need."
I agree completely.
Slorba said
MySQL has gained a lot of functionality after this book was done, but if you are a infrequent developer and like to have a quick reference into basic MySQL functions this book is great.
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