Computer Book Reviews

Google: The Missing Manual by Sarah Milstein and Rael Dornfest
O'Reilly, May, 2004
Paperback, 299 pages
ISBN: 0596006136
Ordering information:
Amazon.com

Google: The Missing Manual
by Sarah Milstein and Rael Dornfest

Learning how to search effectively is important these days because, with the advent of search engines, like the popular Google website, people can quickly access financial information, business news, health resources and much more. Google: The Missing Manual helps beginners learn the basics of using Google, and it also reveals some of the special, unique features Google offers. Surfers can learn skills like searching within specific domains, changing the number of search results and tracking UPS and FedEx packages. Some of Google's newer tools like Froogle, a shopping search engine, and Google News, a searchable collection of news stories from thousands of news sources, are also discussed. A chapter is also provided which covers Google's Toolbar and Deskbar tools for surfers who want to move Google's search to their browser or desktop. This is an excellent guide for novice web surfers eager to use Google's powerful search technology. The numerous screen shots, examples and tips will quickly turn any beginner into

Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL by Hugh E. Williams and David Lane
O'Reilly, May, 2004
Paperback, 796 pages
ISBN: 0596005431
Ordering information:
Amazon.com

Allowing visitors to search information from an online database is a powerful option for businesses whether they are offering information or an online store catalog. The advantage to developers is instead of creating thousands of individual webpages they can dynamically display large amounts of data in the form of customized results to the web user. The combination of PHP and MySQL is a cheap, effective method for providing an online database. Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL helps developers learn to build web databases using these tools. Authors Hugh E. Williams and David Lane provide practical instruction about coding in PHP, and information about how to create scripts that send and retrieve information to and from MySQL servers, where the data is stored. Some of the many topics covered include authentication and security, session management, querying databases, error handling and creating PDF reports. Some useful JavaScript validation code is also provided. The authors incorporate an excellent case study involving the development of a wine store using PHP and MySQL into the text, offering developers the opportunity to see the techniques used in practice. The wine store case study contains scripts for a shopping cart, managing memberships and displaying wine product information. If you are a web developer with a web database to build, grab this information-packed book with the platypus on the cover and get your project off to a great start.

Return to Book Reviews Index

Computer Book Reviews

Google: The Missing Manual by Sarah Milstein and Rael Dornfest

Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL by Hugh E. Williams and David Lane