Thread: Books for PostgreSQL?

Books for PostgreSQL?

From
"G Lam"
Date:
Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it on a
RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?
Thank you.
Gary



Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Tom Van den Brandt
Date:
G Lam wrote:

> Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
> application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it on
> a RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?
> Thank you.
> Gary

Well Gary, I'm a newbie too and I found that 'PostgreSQL' by Douglas &
Douglas (ISBN: 0735712573) offers a very good introduction.  I haven't
gotten a lot further than that for the moment, but the rest of the book
looks very prommising too.  You should check the customer-reviews on Amazon
or something.  You'll probably find more booktitles and info there...

Greetz
--
Tom Van den Brandt
I try...

Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Kaarel
Date:
>
>
>Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
>application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it on a
>RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?
>
>
Well there are official documentation of course
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/ which are very good. But since you asked
for books, there are some printed books available online:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/awbook.html and
http://www.commandprompt.com/ppbook/book1.htm

Kaarel


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Christoph Becker
Date:
Together with the official documentation I still use
PostgreSQL - Introduction and Concepts from Bruce Momjian. He should write a
much more comprehensive (tuning, large objects vs bytea) and updated (to 7.4)
2nd edition, but it is still very good and really worth the money.
Regards
Christoph
Am Donnerstag, 21. August 2003 05:13 schrieb G Lam:
> Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
> application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it on a
> RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?
> Thank you.
> Gary
>
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 7: don't forget to increase your free space map settings


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Ron
Date:
G Lam wrote:

>Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
>application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it on a
>RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?
>Thank you.
>Gary
>
>
>
>---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
>TIP 7: don't forget to increase your free space map settings
>
>
>
>
'PostgreSQL Essential Reference' by Barry Stinson is a useful book to
have at your desk, it's the only one I use. As the name suggests, it's a
reference and not a database/SQL how-to for total database newbies. OTOH
I *can't* recommend the O'Reilly book because the index is very poor,
making it useless as reference material.

Ron


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Al Hulaton
Date:
> Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
> application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it
> on a
> RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?

Well, I'm a little biased because I work at the author's shop :), but I
use Practical PostgreSQL from O'Reilly (link below also has the book
online). And I also use Bruce Momjian's PostgreSQL Introduction and
Concepts book a lot -- it's been commuting with me to work for the past
few weeks.

I'm always on the lookout for more PostgreSQL books so I'll be
following this thread with interest.

--
Best,
Al Hulaton    |  Sr. Account Engineer  |  Command Prompt, Inc.
503.222.2783  |  ahulaton@commandprompt.com
Home of Mammoth PostgreSQL and 'Practical PostgreSQL'
Managed PostgreSQL, Linux services and consulting
Read and Search O'Reilly's 'Practical PostgreSQL' at
http://www.commandprompt.com


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
"scott.marlowe"
Date:
I'll second the usefulness of Bruce's book.  I still refer to it
years after buying it.

I'd highly recommend either of the two books out by Sams with by Hans and
Ewald.  Both very good good books.  One is just purely Postgresql, the
other is a PHP/Postgresql book.

On Wed, 27 Aug 2003, Christoph Becker wrote:

> Together with the official documentation I still use
> PostgreSQL - Introduction and Concepts from Bruce Momjian. He should write a
> much more comprehensive (tuning, large objects vs bytea) and updated (to 7.4)
> 2nd edition, but it is still very good and really worth the money.
> Regards
> Christoph
> Am Donnerstag, 21. August 2003 05:13 schrieb G Lam:
> > Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
> > application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it on a
> > RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?
> > Thank you.
> > Gary
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> > TIP 7: don't forget to increase your free space map settings
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 2: you can get off all lists at once with the unregister command
>     (send "unregister YourEmailAddressHere" to majordomo@postgresql.org)
>


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Ron Johnson
Date:
On Wed, 2003-08-20 at 22:13, G Lam wrote:
> Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
> application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it on a
> RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?

As important as the book: what version are you using?  That which
comes with RH8.0?  It is recommended that you upgrade to v7.3.4.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Johnson, Jr. ron.l.johnson@cox.net
Jefferson, LA USA

4 degrees from Vladimir Putin


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Matthew Wissell
Date:
You could try postgres documentation at http://www.postgresql.org/docs/

or there is an online book titled 'PostgreSQL: Introduction and Concepts'
at  http://candle.pha.pa.us/main/writings/computer.html


G Lam wrote:

>Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did write some
>application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I installed it on a
>RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?
>Thank you.
>Gary
>
>
>
>---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
>TIP 7: don't forget to increase your free space map settings
>
>
>


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Heath Tanner
Date:
Not to take anything away from the books on the topic, but my favorite
source is the docs that got installed with postgres
(/usr/local/pgsql/doc/html).

The index isn't great, but easily overcome:
grep -i "search phrase" /usr/local/pgsql/doc/html/* | less

Try to do that with a book. :-)

When I can't find the answer there, I search the mailing list archives
and/or google.

-heath





Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Benjamin Jury
Date:
The only problem with 'Practical PostgreSQL' is that it is rather out of
date.

It covers PostgreSQL up to 7.1. There have been a lot of advances since then
some that really need covering. (Functions returning record sets immediately
springs to mind.)

On the whole it is a good book, apart from the chapter of advertising. (The
one on LXP, if its not included out of the box then why put it in the book?
A chapter is way to much IMHO...)

Wait until the 2nd edition that should cover 7.3 or 7.4.

-Ben.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Al Hulaton [mailto:ahulaton@commandprompt.com]
> Sent: 27 August 2003 16:48
> To: G Lam
> Cc: pgsql-general@postgresql.org
> Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Books for PostgreSQL?
>
>
> > Hi, I have some experience in MS Access 97 and 2000 and did
> write some
> > application with them. Now, I want to learn PostgreSQL. I
> installed it
> > on a
> > RH8.0 server. Which books would you guys recommand?
>
> Well, I'm a little biased because I work at the author's shop
> :), but I
> use Practical PostgreSQL from O'Reilly (link below also has the book
> online). And I also use Bruce Momjian's PostgreSQL Introduction and
> Concepts book a lot -- it's been commuting with me to work
> for the past
> few weeks.
>
> I'm always on the lookout for more PostgreSQL books so I'll be
> following this thread with interest.
>
> --
> Best,
> Al Hulaton    |  Sr. Account Engineer  |  Command Prompt, Inc.
> 503.222.2783  |  ahulaton@commandprompt.com
> Home of Mammoth PostgreSQL and 'Practical PostgreSQL'
> Managed PostgreSQL, Linux services and consulting
> Read and Search O'Reilly's 'Practical PostgreSQL' at
> http://www.commandprompt.com
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of
> broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 1: subscribe and unsubscribe commands go to
> majordomo@postgresql.org
>

Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Martin Marques
Date:
El Jue 28 Ago 2003 10:26, Benjamin Jury escribió:
> The only problem with 'Practical PostgreSQL' is that it is rather out of
> date.

Not exactly. Yesterday a friend told me that a new edition of the book was
coming out this month, which should cover up to 7.3, or even 7.4 features.

Any way, I was only told, and didn't have time to check it out yet.

--
Porqué usar una base de datos relacional cualquiera,
si podés usar PostgreSQL?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Martín Marqués                  |        mmarques@unl.edu.ar
Programador, Administrador, DBA |       Centro de Telematica
                       Universidad Nacional
                            del Litoral
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Chris Webster
Date:
> Not to take anything away from the books on the topic, but my favorite
> source is the docs that got installed with postgres
> (/usr/local/pgsql/doc/html).
>
> The index isn't great, but easily overcome:
> grep -i "search phrase" /usr/local/pgsql/doc/html/* | less
>
> Try to do that with a book. :-)
>
> When I can't find the answer there, I search the mailing list archives
> and/or google.

I'm sorry, but I'm also a DB newbie, and I find the online documentation
ok/good, and very good if you are a seasoned user who just needs
reference.  It esp sucks regarding the configuration file.  Yes it
explains each line item, but not how it affects the database, when do
you want a large value here, when do you want a small value, etc.  This
fact is born out by the number of times people have to respond with "did
you tweak xxxx in the config file?"  Maybe the books aren't any better....

--
--Chris

    Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.



Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Dennis Gearon
Date:
Heath Tanner wrote:

> Not to take anything away from the books on the topic, but my favorite
> source is the docs that got installed with postgres
> (/usr/local/pgsql/doc/html).
>
> The index isn't great, but easily overcome:
> grep -i "search phrase" /usr/local/pgsql/doc/html/* | less
>
> Try to do that with a book. :-)

That brings ujp a good point, indexes in many technical bools are pathetic.


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
"Shridhar Daithankar"
Date:
On 28 Aug 2003 at 7:55, Chris Webster wrote:

> > Not to take anything away from the books on the topic, but my favorite
> > source is the docs that got installed with postgres
> > (/usr/local/pgsql/doc/html).
> >
> > The index isn't great, but easily overcome:
> > grep -i "search phrase" /usr/local/pgsql/doc/html/* | less
> >
> > Try to do that with a book. :-)
> >
> > When I can't find the answer there, I search the mailing list archives
> > and/or google.
>
> I'm sorry, but I'm also a DB newbie, and I find the online documentation
> ok/good, and very good if you are a seasoned user who just needs
> reference.  It esp sucks regarding the configuration file.  Yes it
> explains each line item, but not how it affects the database, when do
> you want a large value here, when do you want a small value, etc.  This
> fact is born out by the number of times people have to respond with "did
> you tweak xxxx in the config file?"  Maybe the books aren't any better....

http://www.varlena.com/varlena/GeneralBits/Tidbits/annotated_conf_e.html
http://www.varlena.com/varlena/GeneralBits/Tidbits/perf.html

These are actually collections of FAQ put in a nice sugar candy.

HTH

Bye
 Shridhar

--
Respect is a rational process        -- McCoy, "The Galileo Seven", stardate 2822.3


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Robby Russell
Date:
Benjamin Jury wrote:
> The only problem with 'Practical PostgreSQL' is that it is rather out of
> date.
>
True, there have been many new features, however you can't say its
beyond usefullness now. A new person to PostgreSQL can look at it
online, check it out at the library, pick it up new/used... and still
learn the majority of PostgreSQL installation and usage.


> one on LXP, if its not included out of the box then why put it in the book?
> A chapter is way to much IMHO...)

I heard a rumour that LXP should be open sourced fairly soon.


>
> Wait until the 2nd edition that should cover 7.3 or 7.4.

We all wait in anticipation... ;-)

However, the 1st release is open source and you can read it online anytime.



--
Robby Russell,  |  Sr. Administrator / Lead Programmer
Command Prompt, Inc.   |  http://www.commandprompt.com
rrussell@commandprompt.com | Telephone: (503) 222.2783


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
Jeffrey Melloy
Date:
On Thursday, August 28, 2003, at 08:58  AM, Dennis Gearon wrote:

> Heath Tanner wrote:
>
>> Not to take anything away from the books on the topic, but my
>> favorite source is the docs that got installed with postgres
>> (/usr/local/pgsql/doc/html).
>>
>> The index isn't great, but easily overcome:
>> grep -i "search phrase" /usr/local/pgsql/doc/html/* | less
>>
>> Try to do that with a book. :-)
>
> That brings ujp a good point, indexes in many technical bools are
> pathetic.
>
>
I wrote  a quick'n'dirty search engine (using PostgreSQL, of course)
for exactly that reason.

Jeff


Re: Books for PostgreSQL?

From
"Joshua D. Drake"
Date:
As the co-author of Practical PostgreSQL: Yes Pratical PostgreSQL 2E is on the way. It will cover 7.4. It WILL NOT BE OUT NEXT MONTH. It will probably be out in mid-winter.

Sincerely,

Joshua Drake


Martin Marques wrote:
El Jue 28 Ago 2003 10:26, Benjamin Jury escribió: 
The only problem with 'Practical PostgreSQL' is that it is rather out of
date.   
Not exactly. Yesterday a friend told me that a new edition of the book was 
coming out this month, which should cover up to 7.3, or even 7.4 features.

Any way, I was only told, and didn't have time to check it out yet.
 

-- 
Command Prompt, Inc., home of Mammoth PostgreSQL - S/ODBC and S/JDBC
Postgresql support, programming shared hosting and dedicated hosting.
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