MySQL
is frequently touted as the world's most widely used relational
database management system. Many of the worlds most well known web
applications and web sites use MySQL as their data repository. The
popularity of MySQL has continued to grow while at the same time many
were taken aback by the lack of many features considered to be
essential to a 'real' rdbms. Such naysayers have done little to impeed
the growth or development of MySQL. The first edition of MySQL in a Nutshell,
published in 2005 gave users a handy reference to using MySQL. The
second edition published in 2008 with coverage of many new features
that MySQL fans proudly proclaim as an answer to all those critics
clamoring for a more well rounded rdbms.
O'Reilly's Nutshell books normally ecompass two types of content; tutorials and command reference. MySQL in a Nutshell
is true to that format. In this book though, the line between the two
is not as cut and dried as in some of the other Nutshell books. The
closest to pure reference is probably the documentation of MySQL
functions. But there is always more than just a simple statement of
function name and parameters. There are examples and when appropriate,
Dyer explains function behavior beyond the inherently obvious. A good
example would be when Dyer explains the output of Sleep() in the case
of a user interupting query execution with crtl-c.
The tutorials cover all of the basics but extend well into the meat
of succesfully administering an rdbms. The book begins with an
introduction to MySQL itself, instructions on installation and a brief
overview of the basics. These chapters make up the first section of the
book and take up 35 pages. This means that the book is not an
introduction to sql or using an rdbms. This book is first and foremost
a reference for the MySQL user who has already moved past the
introductory level. I don't think one needs to be an expert to use the
book but there is no extended hand-holding for the novice. This is a
plus in my opinion, rather than the publisher shoving in a bunch of
extra material in an attempt to make the book useful to every reader
regardless of their level of experience.
The second section, "SQL Statements and Functions", understandably
comprises the majority of the text. This second edition breaks down the
categories further, leading to an additional five chapters when
compared to the first edition. This is evident with the first chapter,
"Security and User Statements and Functions" a chapter that was not in
the first edition. Here again the real strength is that the commands
are not just documented but they are explained and illustrated with
examples.
For the person already working as a MySQL DBA or aspiring to do so,
there is excellent coverage beyond the basics. There is documentation
on essential skills like back-up, recovery and replication. Another new
chapter breaks out database table and schema commands on their own. The
brief, but thorough documentation of these features makes this volume
extremely useful to the DBA moving to MySQL from another rdbms. One
struggle for me, coming to MySQL from Oracle has been that sometimes
things are just done very differently than I expect. I don't need a lot
of background, I just need to know the MySQL method and this book makes
that quickly available and gets me running until I have time to dig
further into the why. I would think that this book is a must on the
bookshelf of any DBA responsible for the care of MySQL.
Section three further shores up this use with very thorough
documentation of MySQL server and client tools. Chapter 15 covers
mysqld and mysql. Chapter 16 covers command line utilities. There are
roughly 30 utilities coverd and I am sure that this chapter could be a
real life saver for many. The book does not cover the gui tools
available for managing and working with MySQL. This is a strength in my
opinion. The tools are built on top of what is documented here and
knowledge of the command line commands should adequately prepare the
user to deal with any of the various gui tools available out there.
This may be somewhat disconcerting to anyone coming from a MS SQL
Server background. It's been my experience that folks who have only
worked with MS SQL Server struggle when they don't have gui tools,
whatever rdbms they are on. Fortunately for them there are a lot of
options available to manage MySQL with a gui, they just aren't covered
in this book.
The second group that could benefit the most from this book, beyond
database administrators is the devloper. The documentation of sql
statements and functions is of course very useful. The fourth section
covers APIs and connectors. It documents the c, perl and php APIs.
These chapters follow the same easy flow of mix between documentation
and tutorial. The beginning of the chapter covers the basics of
connecting, executing statements against the database and the reference
follows with the specifics of commands and accompanying examples.
Section five contains three appenices that cover data types,
operators and server/environment variables. All three are concise but
valuable and cover the information fully. The index does an excellent
job of covering not only specific terms but subjects and makes it easy
to find what the reader wants, even if they aren't sure of the specific
command they are looking to read about.
The book is based on MySQL 5.0 and makes note of features that will
be availble in 5.1 and 6.0. This does not include master-master
replication, since I mentioned that the book does cover that topic. But
the section on replication will still be of use with that new feature I
am sure. There were some formatting issues in my copy. I don't know if
it was isolated or a part of a larger number of copies, I did not see
it mentioned on the errata web page for the book. In the chapter on
date and time functions, three of the sql examples have formatting
errors. The last three characters of the last line of the example are
repeated as a fourth line. I'm not sure how this crept in, and it is
pretty easy to see that the characters are a typo as opposed to part of
the statement but it did throw me for a moment when I looked at them.
Anyone typing the command verbatim will get an opportunity to see what
their client does with incorrect sql.
I think that this is an excellent book that will aid anyone who
interacts with MySQL on a regular basis. There is no fluff, no cuteness
and no attempt to do anything beyond providing quick access to key
information. The book hits that sweet spot between providing too much
or not enough. It does not try to be everything to everyone as I
mentioned. It will not do all the lifting necessary to get someone who
does not even know what an rdbms is to where they will need to be in
order to make good use of this book. It does not dive deep on internals
or more advanced topics. But what it covers in that wide middle, it
covers very well.
Title: MySQL in a Nutshell
Author: Russell J.T. Dyer
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Pages: 561
ISBN: 978-0-596-51433-4
Rating: 9/10
Tagline: A Desktop Quick Reference
Keith Curtis has just written a book about the future of software.
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