SQL
"SQL for Smarties" was hailed as the first book devoted explicitly to the advanced techniques needed to transform an experienced SQL programmer into an expert. Now, 10 years later and in the third edition, this classic still reigns supreme as the book written by an SQL master that teaches future SQL masters. These are not just tips and techniques; Joe also offers the best solutions to old and new challenges and conveys the way you need to think in order to get the most out of SQL programming efforts for both correctness and performance.
Anthony Molinaro is a SQL developer and database administrator with many years experience in helping developers improve their SQL queries. SQL is particular passion of Anthony's, and he's become known as the go-to guy among his clients when it comes to solving difficult SQL query problems. He's well-read, understands relational theory well, and has nine years of hands-on experience solving tough, SQL problems. Anthony is particularly well-acquainted with new and powerful SQL features such as the windowing function syntax that was added to the most recent SQL standard.
PHP and MySQL form a powerful team, and if you have some fluency with HTML, this comprehensive guide will have you creating database-backed, PHP-driven Web sites in no time. Along with the new features of PHP5, you'll learn to install, administer, and use MySQL 4.0 in database design. From getting started with PHP to connecting HTML Web pages to MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle(R), you'll find what you need to take advantage of all this dynamic duo has to offer.
Python
"Dive Into Python" is a hands-on guide to the Python language. Each chapter starts with a real complete code sample, proceeds to pick it apart and explain the pieces, and then puts it all back together again in a summary at the end. This book will be a guide for people who can jump into languages fast and get going.
Dive Into Python is a hands-on guide to the Python language. Each chapter starts with a real complete code sample, proceeds to pick it apart and explain the pieces, and then puts it all back together again in a summary at the end.
Python is a general purpose programming language used in nearly all application domains. This book is a comprehensive reference to the Python programming language. The focus of the 3rd edition is to add coverage of significant new features and new library modules added to the language over the past five years. These features include new style classes, unification of types and classes, xmlrpclip, intertools, bz2 and optparse, making it the most up-to-date Python book on the market. Python is a stable language used in the real world by companies such as Yahoo and Industrial Light and Magic.
XML
Author Erik T. Ray begins with an excellent summary of XML's history as an outgrowth of SGML and HTML. He outlines very clearly the elements of markup, demystifying concepts such as attributes, entities, and namespaces with numerous clear examples. To illustrate a real-world XML application, he gives the reader a look at a document written in DocBook--a publicly available XML document type for publishing technical writings--and explains the sections of the document step by step. A more simplified version of DocBook is used later in the book to illustrate transformation--a powerful benefit of XML.
