For developers of applications making advanced usage of SQL based database engines, “Refactoring SQL Applications” is a step-by-step guide for improvement of overal performance. Stéphane Faroult takes his readers on a guided tour through the process of refactoring application code related to SQL and SQL data definition and manipulation statements: all the way from addressing possible problems to make sure they wont happen again.
By performing tests and providing statistics of the given code on three main database types (Oracle, MSSQL and MySQL), Faroult not only gives a broad view, but also stresses the differences in implementation of the SQL standards. All this information is very useful to the application developer.
In the first chapters, Faroult walks us through the different kinds of problems that can cause our performance issues. From problems in the client, application, code to indexing and from refactoring the iterative execution of one tiny statement to performance boosts to monster SQL statements. Everything is put into perspective: the boost gained by fixing issues most developers think of important can sometimes almost be nullified with statistics.
The last chapter is the guide to the real world process of refactoring. Faroult correctly starts on the assessment of performance problems in code you, as a developer, do not know: as he states, most refactoring jobs are done by someone that did not write the original application code.
The only drawback of this book might by its inaccessible language. It sometimes takes me, as a non-native speaker of English, a re-read or two to understand what the author intends to say. But of course, this book has enough useful content to compensate for that.
|
