Errant Dreams Reviews
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Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

“Database Design for Mere Mortals,” Michael J. Hernandez

Friday, June 16th, 2006

Pros: Extremely thorough, interesting, and helpful
Cons: Assumes an existing set of reports and samples to analyze; assumes a company rather than an individual project
Rating: 5 out of 5
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“Python: A Visual QuickStart Guide,” Chris Fehily

Friday, June 16th, 2006

Pros: Great basics; hilarious examples
Cons: Assumes a little familiarity with programming; you’ll need more information eventually
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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“PHP4: a Beginner’s Guide,” Bill McCarty

Friday, June 16th, 2006

Pros: In depth treatment of PHP; useful projects; interesting
Cons: Made me feel like I was in grade school
Rating: 4 out of 5
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“PHP for the World Wide Web: A Visual QuickStart Guide,” Larry Ullman

Thursday, June 15th, 2006

Pros: I actually felt like I could do something useful after I read this book; uses actual useful scripts as examples
Cons: As is standard for the VQSGs, it doesn’t get into huge amounts of depth
Rating: 5 out of 5
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“PERL and CGI for the World Wide Web, Visual QuickStart Guide, Second Edition,” Elizabeth Castro

Thursday, June 15th, 2006

Pros: Plenty of good, solid, basic concepts
Cons: Didn’t come out of the book feeling like I could do much with what I’d learned
Rating: 3 out of 5
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“Webmastering for Dummies Second Edition,” Tauber and Kienan

Thursday, June 15th, 2006

Pros: Detailed, specific, and helpful in all ways
Cons: Mostly aimed at medium to large companies
Rating: 5 out of 5
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“Starting an Online Business for Dummies,” Greg Holden

Thursday, June 15th, 2006

Pros: Lots of practical advice
Cons: Some not-so-useful advice
Rating: 4 out of 5
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“Building a Web Site for Dummies,” David and Rhonda Crowder

Thursday, June 15th, 2006

Pros: Great tone; some wonderful practical know-how and philosophy
Cons: …And then it all goes bad…
Rating: 2 out of 5
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“HTML Complete, Second Edition,” Sybex

Thursday, June 15th, 2006

Pros: Good reference and refresher work
Cons: Audience problems (says all levels, but not good for beginners)
Rating: 3 out of 5
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“HTML 4 For the World Wide Web, Visual Quickstart Guide, Fourth Edition,” Elizabeth Castro

Thursday, June 15th, 2006

Pros: How and why; straightforward and focused; lots of small helpful things
Cons: Could use more context in places
Rating: 4 out of 5
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