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MySQL Certification Study Guide Review by JohnM
One of the best MySQL books around
This book is not only an excellent source for prepping for the Core and Professional exams, it's also great for teaching good MySQL usage in general. This should be no surprise: Paul DuBois is the main author, and anyone even remotely in touch with MySQL know his reputation.
Now that I'm certified, I will soon be teaching courses in MySQL. I plan to use this book as course material, and I would strongly encourage other instructors to do the same.
Many authors and publishers never follow up on a book once it has been published. Not so here: In the best of Open Source tradition, the authors are extremely keen on following through on the book and have published thorough errata (in the few places it has proved necessary) for the book on the MySQL web site. This shows a commitment to their work rarely seen in other places.
Other reviewers have pointed to a lack of sample data. This is not correct. True, some data is missing but for the most part the data used is the "world" database freely available for download from the MySQL web site. This fact is admittedly somewhat hidden in the introductory pages, and easy to miss.
Some also complain that the exercises are not in the same (multiple-choice) format as you will see on the exam. At first it does look strange, but after completing my studies I fully support the authors' choice in doing what they did. You get a much better knowledge of the subject areas with the format chosen, and learn a lot more about the many inticacies of working with the software.