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Book Review - MySQL in a Nutshell
Review of 'MySQL in a Nutshell' from O'Reilly

Posted Thursday, July 7, 2005

MySQL In A Nutshell - A Desktop Quick Reference

This is the first 'In A Nutshell' book for MySQL from O'Reilly. I usually use 'In A Nutshell' books the way one might use a dictionary or other reference book; a quick look-up of the item you need, and it's back on the shelf. I like that. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy technical book that you can read through, but when you are trying to get your work done, those can be a pain to use for reference.

MySQL In A Nutshell starts off with a (very) brief introduction (I like that too), plus a short installation guide and tutorial. Then it gets right into the meat of things with the SQL reference. Next it covers functions for strings, date/time, flow control, etc. I must admit that I often use the online reference for many of these things. However, one nice thing I noticed about the book is that the SQL and function references were much more in-depth than the documentation available on mysql.com, which is sometimes a bit terse. Sometimes a more verbose explanation and an example is helpful for a clod like me (right...not a dummy, a clod). See the link to Chapter 6: Date and Time Functions (PDF) below for an example.

The second half of MySQL In A Nutshell includes brief references for MySQL server and client, and command line utilities. Next it covers API's for Perl(DBI), PHP(built in functions) and C. These are somewhat limited, although obviously each of these chapters could (and do) fill books on their own. Also, I find that most developers are now using some kind of database abstraction layer (e.g. Class::DBI for Perl or Pear::DB for PHP) rather what's covered in the book. Lastly Datatypes, Operators and Environment Variables are covered briefly, followed by a hefty index (I like that).

In summary I'd say that the reference guide in the first half of the book is excellent, while the second half is just 'so-so'. However, given that all the info I really expected is contained in the first half, I suppose the second half is just a bonus. Worth having on the shelf.

TITLE: MySQL In A Nutshell - A Desktop Quick Reference
AUTHOR: Russell J.T. Dyer
ISBN: 0-596-00789-2
PAGES - 352
WEB: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mysqlian/

Free Chapter Online:
Chapter 6: Date and Time Functions (PDF)
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mysqlian/chapter/ch06.pdf

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