Hard stuff made easy! Your practical, self-paced guide to database fundamentals
Databases Demystified, Second Edition is the curriculum-based tutorial for anyone overwhelmed by confusing subjects and complex textbooks. The book is user friendly, engaging, easy to follow, and designed for the student or non-expert wanting to quickly learn the ins and outs of databases and immediately apply the concepts learned.
Clear language, step-by-step discussions, and quizzes at the end of each chapter make understanding databases easy. Learn how to form database queries using Microsoft Access and SQL, explore methods for connecting a database to applications, and discover how to store historical data for analyses. From logical data design using normalization, to database security and data warehousing, this hands-on guide is simple enough for a beginner but challenging enough for an advanced student.
Databases Demystified, Second Edition
Covers Access 2010, the latest ANSI/ISO standard, and MySQL 5.5
Includes new coverage of advanced normal forms, UML diagrams, and integrating XML and objects into databases
Features chapter-opening objectives that offer insight into what you’re going to learn in each step
Provides questions at the end of every chapter to reinforce learning and pinpoint weaknesses
Contains a final exam for overall self-assessment
About the Author
Andrew J. (Andy) Oppel (Alameda, CA) is a proud graduate of The Boys’Latin School of Maryland and of Transylvania University (Lexington, Kentucky) where he earned a BA in computer science. He has been continuously employed in a wide variety of information technology positions, including programmer, programmer/analyst, systems architect, project manager, senior database administrator, database group manager, consultant, database designer, data modeler, and data architect.
In addition, he has served as a part-time instructor with the University of California, Berkeley, Extension, for more than 25 years and received the Honored Instructor Award for the year 2000. His teaching work included developing three courses for UC Extension, “Concepts of Database Management Systems,” “Introduction to Relational Database Management Systems,” and “Data Modeling and Database Design.” He also earned his Oracle 9i Database Associate certification in 2003. He is currently a senior data modeler for Blue Shield of California. Andy has designed and implemented hundreds of databases for a wide range of applications, including medical research, banking, insurance, apparel manufacturing, telecommunications, wireless communications, and human resources.
He is the author of Databases Demystified (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004), SQL Demystified (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2005), Databases: A Beginner’s Guide (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2009), and Data Modeling: A Beginner’s Guide (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2010), and is co-author of two other books. His database product experience includes IMS, DB2, Sybase ASE, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, MySQL, and Oracle (versions 7, 8, 8i, 9i, and 10g). The current edition of the book had 20 five-star reviews on Amazon.
Hard stuff made easy! Your practical, self-paced guide to Web design
Web Design Demystified covers all of the key concepts and technologies needed to master Web design fundamentals and become proficient in site design and implementation. Learn about the most common tools and best practices, as well as essential design features users expect. The book provides a basic understanding of HTML, XHTML, and CSS, which is the foundation for all Web design.
This hands-on tutorial explains the basics of JavaScript, PHP, RSS and other necessary features for today’s websites. Testing and verification, search engine optimization, FTP and other essentials of going live are also covered. Each chapter features hands-on exercise and a self-test to verify understanding. A comprehensive final exam covers all the core concepts presented in the book.
Web Design Demystified
Shows how to use the essential technologies for current Web design, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more
Provides a complete standalone tutorial in Web design for which no prior experience is required
Outlines the key topics covered in Web design classes
Includes end-of-chapter quizzes and a final exam to reinforce learning and pinpoint weaknesses
About the Author
Wendy Willard (Bel Air, MD) is an accomplished professional with more than 13 years of experience in all aspects of design, including publication, print, and Web. She is the author of the bestseller, HTML: A Beginner’s Guide, now in its fourth edition, and has written additional books and articles on the topics of Photoshop, Web design, and Mac O/S.
Best-selling author Guy Hart-Davis teaches network professionals how to integrate Macs effectively in Windows networks.
These days, almost every network has one or more Macs attached to it—from small offices to Fortune 500 companies, from nonprofits to headline financial firms. Historically, Macs have been essential for high-end graphic and multimedia work (such as web and graphic design, audio/video editing, and publishing), but Apple’s sleek hardware, stable Mac OS X operating system, and persuasive advertising are spreading Macs rapidly among knowledge workers and standard users as well. Microsoft Office for the Mac includes the Outlook-equivalent application Entourage as well as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Virtualization enables Mac users to run vital Windows programs for which there is no Mac version seamlessly within Mac OS X.
As a result, in even the most Windows-centric company, system administrators must add Macs to their network, set them up to work with Windows servers, and keep them updated.
Integrating Macs in Windows Networks is a task-based, hands-on implementation guide to adding Macs to existing Windows networks. Based on the newest release of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard, the book shows Windows administrators how to connect Macs to the network, install and update essential applications, and how to provide the networking services the Mac users need—up to and including remote access to the network or to networked Macs.
Integrating Macs into Windows Networks shows you how to provide Mac users with mission-critical access. Select suitable machines, develop rollout plans, work with Active Directory, connect to network hardware, and regulate Internet activity. Microsoft Exchange support, software installation, and Mac-specific security techniques are also covered in this practical guide.
Connect Macs to PC networks via Ethernet, AirPort, and Firewire
Manage Mac clients through Active Directory and Mac OS X Server
Handle security with proxy servers, firewalls, and AV software
Configure shared folders, file services, and network printers
Run Windows applications on Macs using Boot Camp and VMs
Seamlessly merge Mac Mail and iCal with Microsoft Exchange
Modify Windows VPNs to accept remote Mac connections
Back up and restore data with Time Machine and third party utilities
Endorsement
“Guy Hart-Davis has put together a thorough, detailed guide to making your Macs work more smoothly and completely in your Windows environment. His step-by-step instructions and attention to the ‘gotchas’ will be appreciated by any administrator who has struggled to integrate Macs more thoroughly. This is a book that is long overdue, and should be on the shelf of any administrator working in a heterogeneous environment.” —Don Jones, Senior Partner and Principal Technologist, Concentrated Technology; Contributing Editor, Redmond Magazine and TechNet Magazine
Robin Nixon has worked with and written about computers since the early 1980s (his first computer was a Tandy TRS 80 Model 1 with a massive 4KB of RAM!). During this time he has written in excess of 500 articles for many of the U.K.’s top computer magazines.
Robin started his computing career in the Cheshire homes for disabled people, where he was responsible for setting up computer rooms in a number of residential homes, and for evaluating and tailoring hardware and software so that disabled people could use the new technology – sometimes by means of only a single switch operated by mouth or finger.
After writing articles for computer magazines about his work with disabled people, he eventually worked full time for one of the country’s main IT magazine publishers, where he held several roles including editorial, promotions, and cover disc editing.
With the dawn of the Internet in the 1990s, Robin branched out into developing websites. One of these presented the world’s first radio station licensed by the music copyright holders, and was featured in several news reports on TV and radio networks in the United Kingdom. In order to enable people to continue to surf while listening, Robin also developed the first known pop-up windows.
Robin lives on the southeast coast of England with his wife Julie, a trained nurse, and five children, where he also finds time to foster three disabled children, as well as working full time from home as a technical author.
Robin has contributed an article to “The Daily Tip” section on “IT World,” and Plug-In PHP is one of the featured books on the company’s web site. For a look at the article, please click HERE.
An easy-to-use guide to the latest web design tools and techniques
Fully updated to cover new and emerging web design technologies and trends, this new edition teaches the fundamental skills and concepts of web design through tutorials, hands-on exercises, and integrated projects. The book is filled with tips for designing web pages from concept to completion. Expert advice from industry professionals take you beyond the “how to” and into the “why” of common web design practices.
Web Design: A Beginner’s Guide, Second Edition features:
Step-by-step details on how to create a successful design mockup, take it apart, and begin coding
Tutorials in web design using HTML and CSS, the two most widely used and supported coding methods on the web
Techniques for integrating multimedia such as audio, video, and animation
Best practices for ensuring that sites are standards-compliant and will display correctly in all major browsers
Instructions on how to test and deploy completed designs
Learn essential web design skills:
1. Planning
2. Beginning the Design Process
3. Preparing for Production
4. Producing the Design
5. Getting Started with the Code
6. Styling Content
7. Positioning Content
8. Integrating Dynamic Content
9. Editing Blog Templates
10. Testing and Deployment; Publishing Content
11. Advertising Your Site
12. Maintaining Your Site
About the Author
Wendy Willard (Bel Air, MD), is an accomplished professional with over 13 years of experience in all aspects of design, including publication design, print design, and web design. She is the author of the best-selling McGraw-Hill book HTML: A Beginner’s Guide (now in its fourth edition), and has written additional books and articles on the topics of Photoshop, web design, and the Mac O/S.
This practical resource contains 100 ready-to-run PHP plug-ins you can use to create dynamic Web content. The book begins by showing you how to install, configure, and use a powerful web development environment. Then, each chapter in Plug-In PHP offers complete, working examples for specific end results you can achieve right away. In this time-saving tool, all of the code is extensively documented along with tips for adapting it for your own requirements.
Robin Nixon (UK) is a developer and freelance technical writer who has published more than 500 articles in magazines such as PC Plus, PCW, Web User, .net, PC Advisor, and PC Answers. He is the author of 3 computing books, including the upcoming Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript (O’Reilly).
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