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Professional ADO.NET 2: Programming with SQL Server 2005, Oracle, and MySQL Review by D. Nicholson
What a letdown
I have 16 years experience as an adjunct instructor at a community college. I have a BS in Engineering and I'm 3 credits away from my Master's in Comp Sci.
I'm taking time from my class prep to write this review...
I have been assigned to teach a Visual Basic programming class with this book. Had I been given the opportunity to read the text beforehand, I would have fought hard to use some other book. The example code is formatted so poorly that I am embarassed to use it in class. Some of the example code in the book doesn't even match what's available for download on the WROX web site. The QC staff at WROX should be reassigned. I've QC'd many programming textbooks myself and I can see that this stinker was rushed to print without enough editing.
Don't be fooled by the title. The majority of the examples are SQL Server-specific. OK, Visual Studio has a SQL Server bent, given that both are Microsoft Products. That's no secret. However, if the title of the book references Oracle and MySQL, then all the examples should also. If a particular paradigm can only be implemented in SQL Server, then the authors have a responsibility to provide work-arounds for the other DBMS's that are listed on the cover of the book. Arrrgh.
Chapter 1 covers the History of Data Access. That doesn't fit with the remainder of the book. Part of chapter 2 covers normalization, also not a good fit with the remainder of the book. The authors even admit that the book is aimed at software developers who have prior knowledge of ADO .Net and SQL Server. That implies prior knowledge of normalization and database design.
Recently I was at the bookstore with my 11 year-old. I was agonizing over which ASP .Net book (both WROX titles) to purchase, so I held up two possibilities and asked her to help. She noted that one cover had 3 author's faces on it and the other had two. She concluded that the book with 3 faces must be better. I couldn't argue with that logic. This book has seven faces on it, but it just doesn't deliver.