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MySQL: Building User Interfaces
Craig Maloney writes "If you are a Windows programmer looking to create or move your stand-alone database applications away from Microsoft-specific tools such as Visual Basic, Visual C++, Access or SQL Server, MySQL: Building User Interfaces is written just for you." Read on for the rest of Craig's review.
MySQL: Building User Interfaces
author
Matthew Stucky
pages
632
publisher
New Riders
rating
4/10
reviewer
Craig Maloney
ISBN
073571049X
summary
MySQL and GTK+ are used to create cross-platform applications, with copious code listings.
What's in the book? The first chapter guides the reader through the basics of MySQL and how it compares to Access 2000 and SQL Server 97. Next, a code listing demonstrates the basics of connecting to MySQL via C using the MySQL C API. the book gives an all-too-brief whirlwind tour to the basics of MySQL. The next four chapters are a tutorial on how to use GTK+ and GLADE, focusing on how these toolkits are similar and different from their Visual Basic counterparts. GTK+ was chosen in this book because of its cross-platform compatibility with both Windows and Linux / UNIX operating environments. The second part of the book takes what was learned about MySQL and GTK+ with GLADE and uses it to create a stand-alone application (a real-world order-entry application). What's Good? Throughout MySQL: Building User Interfaces, Stuckey describes exactly what he is doing and why he is doing it that way. The introduction to GTK+ in the first part of the book describes just about every GTK+ widget available (menus, buttons, sliders, status bars, etc.), and creates a monster busy-box application (not to be confused with the busy-box application by Bruce Perens) demonstrating those widgets by themselves. Later in the book Stuckey uses Glade to put applications together, but not using Glade early on gives the reader a chance to see what is happening under Glade's abstraction. During the building of the order-entry application, Stuckey explains the design decisions behind the widgets. Each window of the application is introduced first with a diagram describing where the widgets will be followed by the code for each widget. The design looks like a Visual Basic application designed by a a programmer, with an eye toward the functional rather than the aesthetics of user interface design, but as an introduction to GTK+ programming it works well. What's Bad? If there was ever a book that required a CD-ROM to accompany it, this book gets my nomination. Authors have to walk a fine line between presenting code snippets that don't make sense by themselves, or risk boring readers with page after page of code that might confuse readers who aren't yet ready to view full code listings. MySQL: Building User Interfaces chose to include the full code listing for everything. This is both a blessing and a curse: readers have the code right in front of them and don't have to worry about being in front of a computer while reading the book, but the flow of the book is interrupted every time something is introduced.
The descriptions also suffer, because those code listings are expected to explain in more detail what is going on. In the GTK+ introduction, widgets are introduced with short paragraph introductions. The real-world application, which should be the focus of the book, reads like an assembly line: A screen is introduced, the widgets are placed, and the code is listed. Worse, files which make little sense without a computer (such as files generated by glade) are presented along with the code listings. This makes reading this book a chore. Thankfully, there is an FTP site with the code ready to use, but future versions of this book would be best served to include it on disc.
Perhaps a balance can be struck in a future edition where important code concepts are highlighted without sacrificing seeing the code in a meaningful context.
So, what's in it for me? Windows programmers who need a hand in getting their applications to Linux or UNIX may find this book helpful (but overwhelming) as they learn. This book stands out as a bridge for Windows programmers to make their transition to Linux and UNIX smoother, but the emphasis and amount of code listings in this book may make Windows programmers choose a different route.You can purchase MySQL: Building User Interfaces from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Before all the naysayers start in on what a flaky database MySQL is, how it doesn't do this or that, that it just a toy, please visit their web site and see what its current feature set is.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
I read most of this book (maybe an older version?) last year. I found it very interesting because it basically gave me the idea to let the staff members of my web site update the site through a windowed interface as opposed to a web interface. MySQL doesn't have to be running on the same computer as the program is running on, so this would be simple. That way you could provide a rich client (for staff members, not end-users) to update a web site based on MySQL.
I know, it's not an original idea, but it's interesting because the book was a nice, step by step guide to doing just this. For what it's worth, I enjoyed it.
On the other hand, I ended up spending time with XUL instead.
An Access database (usually a .mdb file) is just a binary file. Your application uses the Access DB driver to read/write to this file.
MySQL on the other hand (which may consist of multiple binary files) has to run a daemon (i.e., server) to be accessed. Your application uses the MySQL driver to talk to the MySQL daemon, either through TCP/IP or a local socket.
This is why MySQL will *never* be a replacement for Access, despite what I often see on slashdot. You can fit a small Access database on a floppy. Conversely, you may need a full fledged DBA to run MySQL.
if you are a windows programmer then you must be retarded
I know many retarded people that would be offended by that statement.
Seriously though, making sweeping statements like that just makes it obvious that you were never good enough for the high school debating team...
Don't confuse stupidity with lack of political engagement / ethics / knowledge / possibilities. I know quite a few people who are more or less stuck with Windows for various reasons (the main one being their employers' decision to - willingly or not - support Microsoft), but who would like to learn more and be able to break free. If a book like this can help even a few people gain some of the skills they need to migrate, it's a good thing.
This signature is not in the public domain.
Are you aware that the data in a MySQL database can be ripped out to a file with the mysqldump command? Okay, perhaps passing it through bzip2 or similar will improve the odds of fitting it on a floppy.
Well obviously, I too can do a text export of Access and gzip it as well! But that doesn't, uh, help the situation.
And an Access database in an MDB file is hardly standalone, you still need a machine running Access to get much use out of it.
Wrong. You don't need Access to create/update/use an Access database. The functionality it built into Windows (actually part of a bigger module called Jet).
I don't get why so many people are stuck on MySQL. It's lacks some very, very basic features: Views, Triggers, Stored procedures, nested selects. Sure, they promise support for all this in future version, but PostgreSQL supports it NOW. If you want a full-featured open source database, don't use MySQL, use Postgres.
"If you are a Windows programmer looking to create or move your stand-alone database applications away from Microsoft-specific tools such as Visual Basic, Visual C++, Access or SQL Server, MySQL: Building User Interfaces is written just for you."
Very few Windows applications are written in 'C' these days so converting an existing application to use MySQL would be pretty painful. You should have a better reason to port your code then simply avoiding MS tools.
Perhaps the book is better suited for developers who wish to switch to Linux for future development.
...if you don't use transactions, stored procedures, triggers, views, sequences (read: real ones), or if you actually want your database to be typesafe and have your insert/update to throw an error (or at least a warning!) on invalid data. Otherwise MySQL is most certainly not a viable replacement, although the codebase which used to be called SAPDB is. Firebird also qualifies for a replacement.
Also, if you need advanced XML querying tools for your database, none of the open source RDBMSs can currently act as a reasonable drop-in replacement for MS SQL Server.
If you don't need any of those features (and especially haven't actually used any of them in existing code), then MySQL could be added to the list of open source RDBMSs that fit the requirements for your project.
- I don't need to go outside, my CRT tan'll do me just fine.
Example? Okay, whip out your MySQL client and type with me...
CREATE TABLE test (
id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY_KEY,
num1 INT,
num2 INT NOT NULL,
num3 INT
price NUMERIC(4,2),
code VARCHAR(8),
);
INSERT INTO test VALUES (
0,
99999999999999,
NULL,
'A quick brown dolphin...',
21474.83,
'ABCDEFGHIJK'
);
"Query OK, 1 row affected"
Seems to me that the data was a collection of square pegs to round holes, but MySQL never even dropped a warning.
So let's check out that table again:
SELECT * FROM test;
1 row with the following is returned.
id: 1
num1: 2147483647
num2: 0
num3: 0
price: 999.99
code: ABCDEFGH
Now stop. Take another look at the table definition. Take another look at the inserted data. Take another look at the output. Take another look at what has been stored in your database. Let's sum up: your primary key (your lookup key!) is not what you expected, the numbers are all different from what you entered, the price does not conform to your data schema (should be a maximum of 99.99), and your character string has been truncated...ALL WITHOUT AN ERROR OR WARNING.
More examples at MySQL Gotchas. All of this in MySQL v4.0 and above. None of this crap happens in Firebird 1.5, PostgreSQL 7.x, or any popular closed source relational database.
And yes, there's a PostgreSQL Gotchas page. Tables are lowercase by default, and it requires the "AS" keyword for column aliases. Look at that list for PostgreSQL. Look at that above example. Can someone say with a straight face that these lists are comparable? Can someone say with a straight face that they want to explain to the computer-phobe why they got 2147483647 in their data? Can someone say with a straight face to their boss that these errors are acceptable in a production environment?
- I don't need to go outside, my CRT tan'll do me just fine.