On Thu, 2003-03-27 at 08:05, Michael Alan Dorman wrote:
> "Gary Hendricks" <ghendricks@yahoo.com> writes:
>
> > I'm thinking of buying "Practical PostgreSQL" from O'Reilly.
> >
> > Has anyone got any comments on this book?
>
> As Christopher Browne pointes out, some of the information is
> outdated.
>
> My real criticism, though, would be that *far* too much of a book
> about PostgreSQL is an advertisment for the authors' company's
> application framework thing. This necessarily means fewer pages for
> what you're supposedly there for, PostgreSQL.
>
> > Can anyone suggest alternatives?
>
> I'm on a plane right at the momen , but the _PostgreSQL Developers
> Reference_ (I believe that's the title) from SAMS, by Geschwinde &
> someone else, is clear, comprehensive, and, on everything I've ever
> checked, correct.
>
I've not read the book myself, but one of my coworkers wails in anguish
at the mention of the book due to errors he found in it; I remember one
of them was related to the notion of functions saving query plans.
Right now I'm reading through the new "PostgreSQL" book from Korry &
Susan Douglas (also from Sams). It's ok, though a little outdated for
what I like in a new book. They started writing at the time of 7.1, but
it does touch on some things for 7.3 so it's more up to date than many
of the books out there. I've not encountered much fluff yet, though it
does devote a lot of space to various programming interfaces you might
not be interested in; though all are open standard languages, not any
specific companies. Hopefully when I'm done I can post a thorough
review.
Robert Treat
