Book Review: Learning MySQL

Learning MySQL by Seyed M.M. "Saied" Tahaghoghi (Hugh E Williams, O'Reilly), is a useful guide for getting started with the elementary uses of MySQL as a database. It is spread over eighteen chapters and approximately divided into six parts of the Introduction, Using MySql, Web Applications with PHP, Interacting with MySQL using Perl and an appendix for the example database code.

The introductory part deals with the installation and initial configuration and tuning tasks. This includes getting used to the standard monitor client that comes with MySQL.

The second part discusses the brief idea about designing databases and the elementary tasks of creating tables, altering the table structures, advanced querying, managing users and privileges. The design of databases through the three broad steps of requirements analysis, conceptual design, logical design is explained with the use of a sample music database and a flight database.

There is some brief discussion about at least nine different table types that can be used on MySQL from the MyISAM to the Berkeley Database (BDB) table type. Readers also get to know the methods for reading and writing into comma-delimited files.

There is the interesting mysql_setpermission program that allows an interactive method for doing the routine database and user administration tasks such as creating a database, setting a user password and modifying user privileges.

The third part is about the backups and recovery covering the backup and recovery scenarios. The primary tool for taking the backup for MySQL is the 'mysqldump' program which gets the text file of SQL statements for the database. Then there is also the Perl script 'mysqlhotcopy' for doing the binary copy of the MySQL data files while the database is running.

Part four of the book discusses the components of a web database application, an overview of the Apache web server and an overview of the PHP language using examples. Part five gives an introduction to Perl language and then moves on to using Perl with MySQL using the DBI module.

There is also some useful information for serving Perl pages to the Web such as using the mod_perl Apache module to move the processing of the Perl scripts to the Apache Web server itself.

The book covers all aspects that would be of use to the beginner user of MySQL as well as giving the useful tips to the already experienced users of this popular database.