Database Processing: Fundamentals, Design, and Implementation, Ninth Edition

Database Processing: Fundamentals, Design, and Implementation, Ninth Edition[rating:0/5]

This textbook is, without question, one of the WORST I’ve ever come across – and I’ve read many. In fact, it is so bad that I have given it ZERO stars (something you can’t do on Amazon). While I wrote this review a few years ago, it remains the most God-awful book I’ve ever read – the author and the publishers should be ashamed of themselves. Of course, that will never happen as they continue to spew forth new “editions” of this monstrosity.

Considering that this is the ninth edition, it’s hard to understand why anyone would continue to use it as an “introductory” text. Even the headings found on Amazon reviews from the last edition clearly highlight just some of the numerous problems that remain in this obscenely overpriced book; these include statements such as:

  • Miserable Book
  • Avoid – do NOT use book as reference do NOT use in a class!
  • Not for the faint of heart
  • Author knows, the rest of us guess
  • NOT a good book for beginners

There have been so many complaints in my own introductory database class, that our instructor is now actively seeking another text to use instead of this one.

So, what exactly is wrong with this book? Plenty! Examples:

  1. Verbose to an extreme – rambling discussions regarding topics that are only remotely related to the topic being covered.
  2. Examples are filled with mistakes or are just plain wrong. My copy is now filled with corrections and comments from my instructor to NOT use the examples provided.
  3. Chapter “summaries” are, more often than not, two or more full pages of solid text – and these are just the “summaries.” Neither the author nor the editors of this book seem cognizant of just what a summary is – ever heard of bullet points, guys?
  4. One of the most basic, primary, characteristics of quality teaching is the ability to “teach a little and then apply it.” Instead, Kroenke bombards the senses with an ENORMOUS number of concepts in every single chapter, there is simply so much, that it is not possible to assimilate everything that is covered. Kroenke even has the audacity to note, in the introduction of one chapter near the beginning of the book, that readers should read the chapter “several times” in order to understand the material! Sure, it is often important to re-read SOME things but not entire chapters! Regardless of how many times you do attempt to get through the material – much remains incomprehensible due to horribly incomprehensible presentation of the material!
  5. Diagrams and other graphic materials are spread all over each chapter, although usually on pages other than their explanation. Not only does this make things extremely difficult when trying to understand them but the very fact that one must read an extensive amount of text just to even begin understanding what the example provides, before trying to figure out the exact concept that the example is trying the demonstrate, defeats the entire purpose of graphic examples in the first place!

I’ve now resorted to buying other books in order to understand what we’re covering in our class. That has, without question, been FAR more useful than wasting anymore time with this nightmare.

Snow Crash

Snow Crash[rating:.5/5]

Childish, sophomoric, vulgar, juvenile. Get the picture? A complete waste of paper. My guess is that this book probably appeals to immature teenage boys with raging hormones (nothing wrong with that, per se, it’s just that the book feels as if it was written by someone stuck in puberty) and those with limited imaginations – it certainly is not what one might call “literature.” At best, it may be possible to that state the author has an “imagination,” however, that doesn’t make this book a creative experience. The story weaves and spins through endless threads that come from nowhere and then disappear, completely, into the ether. Got too much time on your hands and want something to scramble you brain on? Then this book is for you. Otherwise, look elsewhere for substance – this book doesn’t have any.

Perhaps the most disgusting aspect as to why I actually finished this insipid book had to do with the fact that I had to read it as part of a course I was taking. What a waste of time.

Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Step by Step – Version 2003 (Step By Step (Microsoft))

Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Step by Step - Version 2003[rating:5/5]

This book is fabulous – I wish I had purchased it earlier. I have recently returned to school in order to study computer programming as part of an effort to make a career change. The first classes on programming and VB.NET required that we use the HORRIBLE Deitel books (save your money on those). I was not able to take a VB course last quarter and have just started the next class. Our instructor recommended this book as a `refresher’ for what we have already covered and I’m really glad he did! (BTW, he’s also dumped the Deitel books because there were so many complaints). Not only have I already brushed up on the skills I’ve already learned, but the writing is clear, editing is wonderful, and (most important of all) everything makes sense! I’m also learning a lot of new things! I will certainly look for more books by this author – he has a talent for explaining things in an easy to understand manner and yet doesn’t talk down to the reader.
In response to some of the other reviews – no, this book probably wouldn’t be too useful to an experienced programmer but it wasn’t meant to be. For someone new to programming, however, I haven’t found another book that even comes close to this one – buy it today!

Armageddon (Left Behind #11)

Armageddon (Left Behind #11)[rating:.5/5]

Come on guys, just END IT ALL. I was enthralled with the early books in the series . . . now; it’s like sitting around and watching the grass grow. I never realized that a “battle” could be so boring. The story line is nothing less than trite. The characters are completely shallow and the constant bouncing around, from one scene to another, gives the book a feeling of a cheaply produced rap video – yeeech – if the story line flickered any faster, the authors could evoke an epidemic of epileptic seizures in those that don’t even suffer from that horrible illness! Rayford on an ATV? Give us a break! At least he could have been on a moped! While the series initially captured a lot of dedicated readers who have been willing to suffer through the last several books just to finish what we started, there is no way that this series will continue to attract readers in the future – why would anyone want to spend the time and money in such a tortuously long series of books that reads like a comic book. Should a second edition of this series ever come out (let’s hope not), one suggestion would be to change the epilogue in each book to – “Same bat time, same bat channel,” same bat characters, same bat plot. . . etc., etc., etc.

Build Your First Website with Flash MX

Build Your First Website with Flash MX[rating:.5/5]

I just bought this book in an effort to get an overview of Flash. Unfortunately, by the time I got to chapter 2 I had already discovered that the author’s instructions simply don’t work – after following the directions, explicitly, and then redoing the exercise because I couldn’t get the butterfly thing to work, it became quite apparent that no one bothered to proofread this first.
I’m now on chapter 4 and very close to giving up completely – while the book LOOKED promising, I’m now convinced that it is so filled with mistakes that it is nearly (if not completely) impossible to complete the exercises as written.

It is really a shame that someone didn’t do a decent job editing/proofreading this book – even a once through would have shown that are there are numerous mistakes. This book is a big disappointment. Save your money and look elsewhere.