(Rob is going to love this one...)
I'm going to be in the process of re-skilling at work, to become technically and functionally competent with IBM Websphere MQ and Message Broker.
These 2 systems sit on 2/3 key technologies;
- Java (and SQL within that)
- XML
I've asked that initially, rather than a 5-day beginners programming course I can book-learn the basics of these technologies. This is how I taught myself Flash and PHP, so I know it works for me (I suspect anyone coming through the UK education system in the 80's and 90's is an expert in working through examples in textbooks). I tend to find web resources are better for finding solutions to specific issues, rather than general groundwork.
I'm looking for recommendations for printed books that will cover these technologies. I don't really want web resources, as they are a bugger to read'n'work from. As well as lessons, afterwards I would want the books to serve as good reference material, especially in the realms of data parsing and manipulation, and Java interactions with XML and SQL. I know there are some career coders in here, so I would really value your opinions of good text books!
/added. Don't worry about cost too much...these are on someone else's budget.
Pete
I've not used any books for
I've not used any books for those two myself, but I've always found the Sams Teach Yourself books to be good to work through. They come in "In 24 hours" for smaller subjects or "in 21 days" for longer ones but everyone I've talked to who have used them experienced some measure of time travel in the process (or, in English, they don't generally take as long as they say)
SAMS publishing ones are
SAMS publishing ones are excellent. I'm with Byrn on that. Not brilliant for reference but not bad either.
Are you just going to use XML or will you need XSL and XSDs? If you're looking for specific technology reference stuff then O'Reilly's Nutshell books. As XML is language independent, you ill pick up some good generic XML practises.
SQL is bit more of a minefield. It depends on the database engine you'll be using. It'll be MS Sql Server or Oracle probably. I'd pick the SAMS book that is relevant to that engine, rather than a generic SQL one. SQL pretends to be a standard and the language generally is but I've found that each database engine extends it and has other things too.
Loving it.
For SQL it will be used
For SQL it will be used within the development tool (an IBM specific one). I've been advised it's a variation of SQL, however the core of it remains the same. We work on an Oracle core here, though really I'm looking for a basic understanding of it to start with, as it's really the one area of coding I've never touched, even in PHP.
XML...no idea on any satellite technologies at the moment. I have a basic understanding on XML (structure and theory), and MQ/Message Broker really just pass it all around and retrieve/rebuild messages, so again I'm looking really for core understanding, with specifics coming later...
It looks like SAMS may be the way to go for Java...
Get a Java/SQL one and the
Get a Java/SQL one and the O'Reilly SQL one. I love the O'Reilly books for any technology that isn't stupidly massive (Java, .NET etc) or is really quite generic (XML, SQL).
Find out if you're going to be using XML Schemas (also knows as .XSD files - Xml Schema Definition). Schemas give a description of what nodes and attributes are required/optional etc and allow you to make sure you have the XML you require. We use them loads here and they have saved hours of time when integrating with other systems. I have the O'Reilly Xml Schema book on my desk and it's brilliant. Your system might use another method to check Xml Schema, so find out from the other Developers what they use. If they don't use Schema checking of Xml at all then find out why, I'd be interested to know.