I was really impressed with "Learning MySQL". I actually got into MySQL because I was interested in developing data-driven websites. Instead of just buying a book on PHP & MySQL, I thought I would start by focusing just on MySQL to develop a strong foundation on the database side. With that in mind, I felt like this book did a great job covering all bases (no pun intended...Alright, I put some thought into that one).

If you are completely new to databases, then this book is a good place to start - here's why:

1) Coverage of database concepts and design: This book doesn't just launch into the code stuff. It will teach you about database structure and relationships. It will give you some pretty straight-forward rules on how you should design your database with regards to what goes in what tables and how columns in the tables relate to each other (the actual data relationships).

2) History of SQL: Without going into too much detail, the book explains where SQL has come from and what you can expect from it now.

3) Explanation of SQL Syntax: This book does a great job breaking down the syntax of the SQL language and showing you the standard syntax for the various statements it presents.

4) Examples galore: Okay, so a lot of the examples are pretty useless, but they do what they need to - show you how things work. There are also some big examples that are used consistently throughout the book, so you can see your own development in how you interact with the data. There are SQL scripts that you can download from the O'Reilly website to import the tables and data directly into your database to follow along with the authors' examples.

5) Database Tools: The book points you to some useful graphical tools that can be used to interact with your database server or even to design databases (then import the design structure directly into your MySQL server). To be honest, though, it doesn't really go into too much detail on how to configure or use the software (but it's pretty easy to figure out). I think the most important thing is that the book uses the command-line for all it's examples. There is no padding between you and the database.

6) MySQL installation: If you are installing MySQL for the first time (and PHP or Perl for that matter), this book does a fantastic job showing you detailed instructions on how to get everything installed on the Linux, Mac and Windows platforms (using multiple methods on each platform). I used Linux, so I can't actually vouch for how great the instructions are on the other platforms, but - from what I picked up - they are good (definitely better than some other books that tend to favor one platform over another, and put in instructions for those other platforms as an after-thought).

The bottom line is that this book does a great job of getting you up and running, explaining the concepts behind database management, and using examples to teach you how to use the wealth of SQL statements to achieve your goals.

There is also a few chapters at the end of the book that will whet your appetite for building web applications to interact with your database (PHP and Perl). Be warned: These chapters don't do a very good job teaching you PHP and Perl (which is understandable because it's a MySQL book). However, they do show you what MySQL is capable of when combined with these other languages.

I've read several books on MySQL but believe me this is the best of them. The author has done a fantastic job to bring this subject to such a level that anyone with little or no knowledge of RDBMS can understands it properly. The book covers all vital parts of MySQL.

While the content of this book is a basic coverage of MySQL, the editing is absolutely atrocious. The page layout puts graphics for the examples being talked about perpetually two pages ahead of where the example is used in text. Additionally, every time they cover examples of what not to do, or incomplete layout it is corrected to show what you ought to do, then the discussion continues assuming you will use the previously deemed bad example. I also found that every example of a command being issued on the command-line was in it's needlessly long format, neglecting good practice in an attempt to be clear to the absolute beginner at anything.

Overall, I was hoping for a lot more out of this book, especially as it was one of the more recently written books and published by the generally decent O'Reilly company.

I am disappointed.

That said, there's still some good information nested in the excessively wordy paragraphs.

As a new user of MySQL with no previous SQL experience I found this book extremely helpful. This book helped me get my project up and running in very little time. I was especially impressed that even though the examples in the book did not directly correlate to what I was trying to accomplish it gave me enough general knowledge of MySQL to easily put together my project.

The 'Learning' series of books by O'Reilly is one of my favorites by far. The thing the separates 'Learning' books from other ones is the fact that these books (for the most part) assume that the reader has a very limited knowledge of said subject matter and ramps them up in logical succession until the point where they are comfortable and developing/designing like a seasoned pro. A 'Learning' book won't make you into an uber pro overnight, but if you are the type that better learns away from the classroom and would rather spend said time (and a lot less money) sitting in front of a computer at home with a book on your lap, you could do a lot less than this O'Reilly line of books.

With 'Learning MySQL' the tradition most definitely continues. ~600 pages await the reader who picks up this gem and you don't need to have any extensive database experience in order to be able to pick this up and start cracking! From the basics of installation on Linux, Windows and the Mac to basic SQL like writing queries and stored procedures, the foundation is all there. Continuing on to discussing security, performing backups and tuning, this is an exceptional book broken up logically and smoothly into 6 parts and 18 chapters:

01. Intro
02. Installing MySQL
03. Using MySQL Monitor
04. Designing Databases
05. Basic SQL
06. Datbase Structures
07. Advanced Querying
08. More MySQL Goodies
09. Managing Users & Privileges
10. Backups & Recovery
11. Using An Options File
12. Configuring & Tuning The Server
13. Web Database Applications
14. PHP
15. PHP Application Case Study
16. Perl
17. Perl With MySQL
18. Serving Perl Pages To The Web

The chapters on PHP and Perl will show you how you can write web apps to interact with your MySQL database and move far beyond the basics or returning tables and rows to the fun you can really have with MySQL!!!

If you are using MySQL for fun or work, this is a great guide for all new/amateur programmers that want to get working efficiently in no time at all!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A range of users are possible for Seyed M.N. Tahaghoghi & Hugh E. Williams's handbook Learning MySQL, from those running a business or keeping membership records to others who are involved in software design. LEARNING MYSQL covers all the basics in introductory chapters - then moves ahead to more advanced uses of SQL, from configuring MySQL for better security to advanced querying. The open source database offers plenty of advanced capabilities but without a book like LEARNING MYSQL, much of these would be lost: all levels need the tutorials herein which guarantee nothing is lost in the cracks.