Yet another plug for a great book

If you know anything about Oracle databases, you've likely heard of Jonathan Lewis and the great work he's done in the past on Oracle internals (why things do what they do...what's going on under the hood of the database)...especially his work on the cost-based optimizer.  I know he's inspired me to be much better than I would have been, because after reading his books, I was humbled by my relative ignorance, and became desperate to improve.  He's literally an alien of extraordinary ability....


We exist in a field filled with many geniuses.  What sets him apart from all but very few is his ability to bring people to his depth of understanding...his ability to explain complicated things is unmatched...but come to think of it...many of the "greats" have this ability.  Carry Millsap, Tanel Poder, Richard Niemic, Kerry Osborne...not to mention many others.  Hmm...maybe that's the difference between obscurity and notoriety...

I bring this up because I've been reading one of his newest books, Oracle Core: Essential Internals for DBAs and Developers.  His approach to explaining things in the book is interesting...he's recognized the circular manor of Oracle internals...you have to have a clue about everything before you can get a little depth about something in particular.  You have to have a little depth about everything before you can get deep into anything.  This is how he explains things.  By the time he gets into real depth, he's already brought you to a place where its just a small step, rather than a leap.  This makes his book interesting to people who have used Oracle for years and newbies too.


I'll add it to my book list on the right....