Niall, No offense was taken, I assure you! I gathered from context that your approach to the book was friendly and constructive, and I had a pretty good idea what you meant by "infuriating." I'm actually happier seeing some constructively critical discussion of the book than a lot of boring but uniformative thumbs-up (or worse-still, no mention of the book at all;-), so I do not wish to discourage critical commentary. Dan Tow dantow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 650-858-1557 www.singingsql.com We make SQL sing! Quoting Niall Litchfield <n-litchfield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>: > Hi Dan > > I could perhaps have been clearer. That the book has been infuriating me is > definitely *not* intended as implying that it is a bad book, it is my > emotional reaction to it, and anyway I *like* books that infuriate and > challenge me to think, even if I end up rejecting the ideas as wrong (and I > am definitely not at that stage) being wrong in a sensible and logical manner > is always educational.In any case the book is worth the price of entry alone > for the following as early as page 4. > > <quote> > There are 3 steps to sql tuning > > 1. find out which execution plan you are getting > 2. change the sql or database to get a different execution plan > 3. find out which plan is best. > > </quote> > > Followed by the (hopefully obvious) discussion of the illogicality of the > order of this approach. Stated like this it is obvious that most tuning > efforts are at best wasteful of effort (and indeed could probably be done > better by software which is great at trying hundreds or thousands of > possibilities in a scattergun approach). > > Please don't take my comments as overly negative. > > Niall Litchfield > Oracle DBA > Audit Commission > +44 117 975 7805 > > P.S. I won't be commenting on the book in this public forum anymore - but I > did think as it was possible that I seemed harsh on Dan in public I should > try to clarify in public as well. > > > > > > > ********************************************************************** > This email contains information intended for > the addressee only. It may be confidential > and may be the subject of legal and/or > professional privilege. Any dissemination, > distribution, copyright or use of this > communication without prior permission of > the sender is strictly prohibited. > ********************************************************************** > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------