MySQL in a Nutshell Book Review

A Desktop Quick Reference

MySQL in a Nutshell is a desktop quick reference book which details everything you need to know about the MySQL database.

If you are using the MySQL database then this O’Reilly book is indispensable, it’s really well laid out and it’s easy to find the built-in functions or MySQL command line utilities you are looking for.

If you’re getting bored of going to the mysql.com website and looking at the online help documentation every time you cannot quite remember which parameters to pass to a function then you need this book.

MySQL in a Nutshell is divided up into 15 main sections, including:

MySQL Installation (Unix, Windows and Mac)
Tutorial
SQL Statements
String Functions
Date/Time Functions
Aggregate Functions
Flow/Control Functions
Miscellaneous Functions
MySQL Client and Server
Command Line Utilities
Perl API
PHP API
C API
MySQL Datatypes
MySQL Operators

Each section in the book is well documented and well laid out with examples for a lot of the commands and MySQL syntax. A great aspect of the book is the black coloured page sections at the edge of every page so you can easily jump to sections of the book as soon as you pick it up.

At over 300 pages MySQL in a Nutshell is probably the only MySQL book you’ll ever need.