Good programming–which is to say, programming that yields both efficient code and a profitable life for the programmer–depends on not reinventing the wheel. If someone else has solved the problem you’re facing (and someone almost always has), you’d be foolish to waste your energy figuring out your own solution. MySQL Cookbook presents solutions to scores of problems related to the MySQL database server. Readers stand a good chance of finding a ready-made solution to problems such as querying databases, validating and formatting data, importing and exporting values, and using advanced features like session tracking and transactions. Paul DuBois has done a great job assembling efficient solutions to common database programming problems, and teaches his readers a lot about MySQL and its attendant APIs in the process.

DuBois organizes his cookbook’s recipes into sections on the problem, the solution stated simply, and the solution implemented in code and discussed. The implementation and discussion sections are the most valuable, as they contain the command sequences, code listings, and design explanations that can be transferred to outside projects. The main gripe readers will have about MySQL Cookbook is that the author, in his effort to cover the range of MySQL-friendly programming languages, uses different languages in his solutions to various problems. You’ll see a Perl solution to one programming challenge (Perl, in fact, is the most frequently used language, followed by PHP), a Python fix for the next, and a Java sample after that. Readers have to hope that they find a solution in the language they’re working with, or that they’re able to transliterate the one DuBois has provided. It’s usually not a big problem. –David Wall

Topics covered: How to make MySQL databases do your bidding–in terms of queries, table manipulation, data formatting, transactions, and Web interfaces–through the database server’s command line interfaces and (more importantly) through the MySQL APIs of Perl, PHP, Java, and Python. Particularly excellent coverage deals with formatting dates and times, management of null values, string manipulation, and import/export techniques. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description
Along with MySQL’s popularity has come a flood of questions about solving specific problems, and that’s where this Cookbook is essential. Designed as a handy resource when you need quick solutions or techniques, the book offers dozens of short, focused pieces of code and hundreds of worked-out examples for programmers of all levels who don’t have the time (or expertise) to solve MySQL problems from scratch.

The new edition covers MySQL 5.0 and its powerful new features, as well as the older but still widespread MySQL 4.1. One major emphasis of this book is how to use SQL to formulate queries for particular kinds of questions, using the mysql client program included in MySQL distributions. The other major emphasis is how to write programs that interact with the MySQL server through an API. You’ll find plenty of examples using several language APIs in multiple scenarios and situations, including the use of Ruby to retrieve and format data. There are also many new examples for using Perl, PHP, Python, and Java as well.

Other recipes in the book teach you to:

• Access data from multiple tables at the same time
• Use SQL to select, sort, and summarize rows
• Find matches or mismatches between rows in two tables
• Determine intervals between dates or times, including age calculations
• Store images into MySQL and retrieve them for display in web pages
• Get LOAD DATA to read your data files properly or find which values in the file are invalid
• Use strict mode to prevent entry of bad data into your database
• Copy a table or a database to another server
• Generate sequence numbers to use as unique row identifiers
• Create database events that execute according to a schedule
• And a lot more

MySQL Cookbook doesn’t attempt to develop full-fledged, complex applications. Instead, it’s intended to assist you in developing applications yourself by helping you get past problems that have you stumped.

Whether you’re running a business, keeping track of members and meetings for a club, or just trying to organize a large and diverse collection of information, you’ll find the MySQL database engine useful for answering questions such as:

• Which are my top ten fastest-selling products?
• How frequently does this person come to our facility?
• What was the highest, lowest, and average score of the team last season?

MySQL, the most popular open-source database, offers the power of a relational database in a package that’s easy to set up and administer, and Learning MySQL provides all the tools you need to get started. This densely packed tutorial includes detailed instructions to help you set up and design an effective database, create powerful queries using SQL, configure MySQL for improved security, and squeeze information out of your data.

After covering the basics, the book travels far into MySQL’s subtleties, including complex queries and joins, how to interact with the database over the Web using PHP or Perl, and important house-keeping such as backups and security.

Topic include:

• Installation on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X
• Basic and advanced querying using SQL
• User management and security
• Backups and recovery
• Tuning for improved efficiency
• Developing command-line and web database applications using the PHP and Perl programming languages

The authors, Saied Tahaghoghi and Hugh E. Williams, have careers in academia and business, and share a keen interest in research into search technologies.

Whether you’ve never touched a database or have already completed some MySQL projects, you’ll find insights in Learning MySQL that will last a career.

Looking to break into C# programming? Sams Teach Yourself Visual C# 2005 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit is a valuable resource. You will start by learning the basics of the Visual C# environment and begin to build working programs very quickly. As the programs become more complex, you will discover more of the advanced features of the C# programming language and the Visual C# tool.

Set with the practical goal of providing you with a solid foundation from which to grow and develop your C# programming skills, this book is perfect for use in a professional setting or for use with personal projects. The accompanying CD includes Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, a streamlined, easy-to-use development tool that makes Windows programming with C# fun. Jump in with both feet with the help of Sams Teach Yourself Visual C# 2005 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit.

Visual Basic 2005 focuses on enabling developers to rapidly build applications, with enhancements across its visual designers, code editor, language, and debugger that help accelerate the development and deployment of robust, elegant applications across the Web, a business group, or an enterprise. Now you can teach yourself the essentials of working with Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005 and the new features of the Visual Basic language—one step at a time. With STEP BY STEP, you work at your own pace through hands-on, learn-by-doing exercises. Whether you’re a beginning programmer or new to this specific language, you’ll understand the core capabilities and fundamental techniques for Visual Basic 2005. Each chapter puts you to work, showing you how, when, and why to use specific features of Visual Basic and guiding as you create actual components and working applications for Microsoft Windows®. You’ll also explore data management and Web-based development topics.

The popular STEP BY STEP approach provides hands-on guidance to beginning-level programmers and those new to Visual Basic, covering key features and fundamental techniques to accelerate their productivity. The companion CD includes data sets and sample code for all exercises.

Key Book Benefits:

• This immensely popular tutorial for Visual Basic has been fully revised for the newest version of the technology.

• Provides step-by-step guidance on how to use Visual Basic 2005 with Visual Studio 2005 to create smart-client and Web applications.

• Features easy-to-follow, logically planned lessons, with necessary data sets and additional code samples on the CD.

• STEP BY STEP is ideal for anyone with a fundamental understanding of computer programming.

Pro CSS Techniques is the ultimate CSS book for the modern web developer. If you’ve already got web design and development basics under your belt, but want to take your knowledge to the next level and unleash the full power of CSS in your web sites, then this is the book for you. It is a collection of proven CSS techniques that you can use daily to get the most out of the time you spend on your projects, from start to finish.

Every topic is presented in an informative tutorial style, with each point backed up by several real-world examples and case studies. The authors cover all the essential areas of CSS development, like browser support (including IE7), hacks and filters, code management, advanced layouts and styling, typography, and much more. CSS levels 1, 2, and 3 are given a full treatment. The book also includes several reference sections that allow you to look up details quickly and easily.

The book aims to help you in four areas: maintainability, compatibility, reusability, and practicality. You’ll be able to keep your code organized and easy to maintain, avoiding browser issues before they crop up (or hacking around them when absolutely necessary). You’ll learn to get the most out of your styles with inheritance, and by using techniques you can build on. And you’ll learn to use what works in the real world, without getting too caught up in ideals, because you can always optimize later.

If you want to get into developing web sites, the most important thing you need is a solid understanding of Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML—the language that the majority of web site content is written in.

Beginning HTML with CSS and XHTML: Modern Guide and Reference incorporates practical examples that will show you how to structure your data correctly using (X)HTML, along with styling and layout basics using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). You’ll also learn how to add dynamic behavior to your data using the JavaScript™ language.

This book is forward-thinking because all the featured code and techniques are standards compliant and demonstrate best practices–so you won’t waste time on outdated, bad techniques. Your web pages will work properly in most web browsers and be accessible to web users with disabilities, easily locatable with popular search engines, and compact in file size.

Even if you already know HTML and CSS basics, this book will still be useful to you. It features comprehensive reference tables at the back, so you can look up all of the troublesome attributes, codes, and properties quickly and easily.

Pick up a copy of this book because it:

• Teaches standards-compliant HTML–not outdated techniques
• Includes reference sections for you to easily look up syntax
• Doesn’t require previous programming experience for comprehension

CSS: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition, provides you with a comprehensive guide to CSS implementation, along with a thorough review of all aspects of CSS 2.1. Updated to cover Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft’s vastly improved browser, this new edition includes content on positioning, lists and generated content, table layout, user interface, paged media, and more.

Simply put, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a way to separate a document’s structure from its presentation. The benefits of this can be quite profound: CSS allows a much richer document appearance than HTML and also saves time — you can create or change the appearance of an entire document in just one place; and its compact file size makes web pages load quickly.

CSS: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition, provides you with a comprehensive guide to CSS implementation, along with a thorough review of all aspects of CSS 2.1. Updated to cover Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft’s vastly improved browser, this new edition includes content on positioning, lists and generated content, table layout, user interface, paged media, and more. Author Eric Meyer tackles the subject with passion, exploring in detail each individual CSS property and how it interacts with other properties. You’ll not only learn how to avoid common mistakes in interpretation, you also will benefit from the depth and breadth of his experience and his clear and honest style. This is the complete sourcebook on CSS.

The 3rd edition contains:

• Updates to reflect changes in the latest draft version of CSS 2.1
• Browser notes updated to reflect changes between IE6 and IE7
• Advanced selectors supported in IE7 and other major browsers included
• A new round of technical edits by a fresh set of editors
• Clarifications and corrected errata, including updated URLs of referenced online resources

Visual C#, a feature of Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005, is a modern programming language designed to deliver a productive environment for creating business frameworks and reusable object-oriented components. Now you can teach yourself essential techniques with Visual C# - and start building components and Microsoft Windows®-based applications-one step at a time. With STEP BY STEP, you work at your own pace through hands-on, learn-by-doing exercises. Whether you’re a beginning programmer or new to this particular language, you’ll learn how, when, and why to use specific features of Visual C# 2005. Each chapter puts you to work, building your knowledge of core capabilities and guiding you as create your first C#-based applications for Windows, data management, and the Web.

The popular STEP BY STEP approach provides hands-on guidance for creating smart-client and Web applications to programmers who are new to Visual C# 2005 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. The companion CD includes data sets and sample code for all exercises.

Key Book Benefits:

• Popular C# programming tutorial, now fully revised for version 2005.

• Provides step-by-step guidance on how to use Visual Studio 2005 with Visual C# 2005 to create smart-client and Web applications.

• Features easy-to-follow, logically planned lessons, with necessary data sets and additional code samples on the CD.

• STEP BY STEP is ideal for anyone with a fundamental understanding of computer programming.

C# 2005 has enjoyed huge success in the year since its launch, firmly establishing itself as the premier language for development on Microsoft’s successful .NET 2.0 platform. With the launch of the .NET 3.0 extensions in early 2007, the horizons of this language are being extended, and it is becoming even more powerful as it is able to leverage the new .NET 3.0 Foundations.

In recognition of this, Apress presents Pro C# with .NET 3.0, Special Edition to provide you with a complete A-to-Z reference for using C# with the .NET 2.0 platform and the .NET 3.0 extensions. The book contains new chapters that explore the interactions between the existing framework and the new extensions, giving you an edge when you evaluate and implement .NET 3.0 for the first time. To provide even more support, a bonus PDF download will be available with each purchase, offering over 500 pages of carefully selected additional content to help broaden your understanding of both .NET 2.0 and .NET 3.0.

Professional C# 2005 prepares you to program in C#, and it provides the necessary background information on how the .NET architecture works. It provides examples of applications that use a variety of related technologies, including database access, dynamic web pages, advanced graphics, and directory access. The only requirement is that you are familiar with at least one other high-level language used on Windows—either C++, VB, or J++. It starts with a tutorial on C# and the .NET framework. This introduction assumes no prior knowledge of .NET, but it does move rapidly, on the assumption that the reader is an experienced programmer. Once this background knowledge is established, the book starts to sweep through the vast .NET class library, showing how you can use C# to solve various tasks. This comprehensive coverage is one of the key selling points of previous versions of the book, and is maintained and enhanced with this new edition by adding new chapters on Generics, ObjectSpaces, Yukon, and Indigo. Some reference material is included either as appendices or is available to download from the Wrox website.

After the introduction and initial chapter, the book is divided into a number of sections that cover both the C# language and its application in a variety of areas. Coverage includes:

* Writing Windows applications and Windows services
* Writing web pages and web services with ASP.NET
* Manipulating XML using C# 2005
* Understanding .NET Assemblies
* Using ADO.NET to access databases
* Integration with COM, COM+, and Active Directory
* Distributed applications with .NET Remoting
* Generating graphics using C# 2005
* Accessing files and the Registry, and controlling .NET security