Sams Teach Yourself MySQL in 10 Minutes provides a no-fluff, just-the-answers guide to building and managing MySQL databases. It is carefully organized and thoughtfully written to provide just the information that you need in order to gain a rapid working knowledge of MySQL. Get up to speed quickly with Sams Teach Yourself MySQL in 10 Minutes.

Sams Teach Yourself MySQL in 10 Minutes provides a no-fluff, just-the-answers guide to building and managing MySQL databases. It is carefully organized and thoughtfully written to provide just the information that you need in order to gain a rapid working knowledge of MySQL. Get up to speed quickly with Sams Teach Yourself MySQL in 10 Minutes.

Chris Newman is a consultant programmer specializing in database development with an Internet twist. He has extensive commercial experience of using PHP to integrate various database systems and has produced a wide range of applications for an international client base. He runs Lightwood Consultancy Ltd, the company he founded in 1999 to further his interest in online database development. Newman has served as a technical editor on several books from Sams, including PHP and MySQL Web Development, Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One, and Red Hat Fedora Unleashed.

Sams Teach Yourself MySQL in 10 Minutes provides a no-fluff, just-the-answers guide to building and managing MySQL databases. It is carefully organized and thoughtfully written to provide just the information that you need in order to gain a rapid working knowledge of MySQL. Get up to speed quickly with Sams Teach Yourself MySQL in 10 Minutes.

Useful quick reference/learning book
I got this having already waded into MySQL by reading things online. I was looking for extra things I had not already taught myself, and a quick reference when I forget how to do some basic things. It serves that purpose well. I have not had problems with out of date things or errors as another reviewer mentioned, but I am not a DBA by any means... I tend to just do simple things in SQL. I am more comfortable in code, so I do big manipulations of data outside the DB in Java or C++.

Not Bad. If you have used MySQL already...
It’s not a good book for someone who doesn’t know anything about MySQL or that have never attempted using it. At least the prior usage of some sort of AMP stack is probably a good idea - whether this be running a CMS/Blog or similar.

It is however quite good for brushing you up on your MySQL and learning the vast functions that are available.

If you already know a bit and want a quick hard copy reference book, then it may be for you. If you do not; then I would not buy it, you will most probably find that it falls short of your expectations.

Not applicable
The examples in the book cover at least the five database programmes that it claims to on the back cover. This is a disaster, not a selling point. Anyone progamming in all five would already be beyond this book, and even for them this book might be a problem. It is not clear which progammes what belongs to, especially in the general clauses--or where within the programmes to apply them. Since this supposedly starts at the beginning the beginner will need more infomation on where to apply which statements (eg criteria, expressions on data, structure, access db or project etc) and which languages accept what. Hence for someone beggining to learn SQL they may like me find they cannot apply anything or learn anything. A large proportion of the book will be irrelevent and in the way of the particular language you wish to try and apply it to first.

it is out of date (using mysql 4.0)
This book is based on MySQL 4.0 and some commands don’t work on the new version. And this book also has lots of errors. For example, some code (products table)of the sampdb is missing in Appendix B. And it also misses some details so that you have to solve them by yourself.Interesting though.

Easy read...very useful
I have read only half this book (the first half which is dedicated to beginners database work) and found it easy to read and useful. When I become advanced enough I will read the second half. It includes topics like the SQL off-limits words that you shouldn’t use in your database naming fields - which is always helpful (Especially when you are like "I know this function should be working!" and it isn’t because you’ve used something in that list - you won’t spend hours trying to debug your code!)

I will buy Sams Teach yourself books for other topics again.

Frustration
"When you only have time for the answers..." claims the attractive strapline on this book. Wanting to go from being an absolute novice to being able to construct a simple database, this book sold itself as fitting the bill. However, within chapter 1 & 2 there was that very familiar sinking feeling when the instructions in the book did not yield the results they claimed they would, when typed into my PC. Hunting down files of example databases on the SAMs website (which were critical for working through examples throughout the book) was far from time-efficient, since they had evidently altered from when described in the book. Moreover, the promised instructions (for setting up these files) were not in evidence at all after an hour or two searching through the downloaded files (once found). Basically, I got stuck, because of differences between what was on the SAMs website by way of support files and what was said in the book. The point here is that, while being PC literate, I was a novice in SQL world, with a completely new IT package which meant i did not know how to unstick myself. (I thought my situation was the problem being solved by the book, not reinforced!)

So - what ensued from this purchase was a total waste of time, a waste of a tenner and a waste of effort. I got frustrated to boiling point by this thoughlessly constructed book that needs to either make clear buyers should be competent enough with the environment to navigate these differences - or better still - to ensure that its advice is robust enough to allow true novices to truly get up and running. This was a really bad experience.