Oracle Database 10g: A Beginner's Guide (Osborne ORACLE Press Series)

Provides beginning DBAs and developers with a solid foundation in the database administration and programming basics needed to embark on an Oracle career. The focus is on Oracle Database 10g, but you'll get the fundamentals applicable to all Oracle database releases.

User review
Well done!!!!
This vendor shipped the book well in advance of the expected, the book quality was excellent, and the vendor deserves more business!! Thank you for your prompt, high-quality service!

User review
Useless and confusing
This book tells a lot of notions about oracle db, and this can be at first interesting for beginners, but without a logical order: there is no structure, there is no logical consequence in what is written, sometimes even in the same page

This aspect is particular evident in the bakup and recovery section: the authors have written a blob of informations totally unrelated with each other

The choice of the topics is very strange too: there is nothing about fundamental topics, like oracle installation (not even for windows) but there is place for very advanced topics, not so useful for beginners, like xml in oracle db and data partitioning.

The result: this book can be attractive for the large numbers of topics discussed, but it can be very, very confusing

User review
Not a good book. Not a solution for any problem
I know beginners need a book wich talks about only a few topics, the most important. And it must be clear and not too deep way. But it doesn't mean you can take a time with each topic. This book passes over every chapter at the speed of light, leaving many issues unexplained.
To all of this, it must be added the fact that the book costs as much as other really wonderfull and longer books.
It's been frustrating that feeling I had while reading, as I have wasted my money and I'll have to buy another. Any search in google for oracle tutorials gives more information than that book.

User review
Fails at its mission
The problem with this book is stated on page 4 ` In order to work,,,, you will need to have the Oracle Database 10g software installed and the first database successfully created`. Therein lies the problem. If you have the software installed and a database started you are way passed the beginning.

This is an intermediate and overview book of Oracle, it is not a beginner's book. When you install the software you will have at least 19 .exe files that will start certain portions of Oracle. Which one do you start with?? This book will not tell you. There are default passwords you need to know to get started with Oracle. This book will not tell you. There are certain set ups you need to do with the DBA program to start using Oracle. This book will not tell what you need to do.

There are chapters on SQL, Database Administrator, Networking, Backup, PL/SQL, Java, XML and Large Database Features. There is not a single chapter on how to begin and set up Oracle.

This book was written by three authors and five associate authors that are all highly qualified at Oracle. Their knowledge is so far above the beginner, they have no idea or concept of what the beginner needs to know. Nowhere is there a step by step, mouse click by mouse click, command by command on how to start Oracle. As stated before there are at least 19 .exe files installed when you install Oracle. There is no chapter that tells you what these 19 plus programs do and which one to start with or how to set up Oracle.

The book does give some code snippets to use once Oracle is up and running, but they are completely useless if you cannot get Oracle up and running. Instead of having chapters on Networking, Java, XML and Large Databases, there should be chapters on Beginning, Install, Setup, Logging on, and First Database Definition.

At its stated mission or title, this book is a complete, absolute and total failure. If you want a beginning book, pass on this one.

User review
Really poor,,.
Just like other reviewers have written, it is really a poor guide,,. from the fisrt pages you know that the book is missing it's target,,.