Informix Book Reviews

We'll review here those texts which are, or claim to be, about Informix SQL. We try to be current, but we do not always go out and buy the latest edition of every book, especially if we disliked the last edition. We try to be fair, but disclaim responsibility for any errors or omissions.

THE TOP 10 INFORMIX BOOKS. We power searched the amazon.com database for Informix etc., deliberately excluding any publication date more than 2 years ago, or no longer easily available. We have sorted this list according to the books' "amazon review ratings" (1 to 5 stars). We have also noted the publication date, feeling that up-to-dateness is important. We excluded the many books which are written and published by Informix itself, our theory is that you are after an independent guide to supplement the company's own documentation. Even so, we suspect that some of these titles are subsidized by Informix.

• Informix Basics. Miller. 4.5 stars. October 1998. Includes CD-ROM. Well-organized summary of what the dense Informix documentation wants to say. Not as thick as Flannery's "Informix Handbook" but all most people will ever need.
• Data Warehousing With Informix: Best Practices. Sanchez. 5 stars. March 1998. Decision support systems are nice, but typical people won't care. Read table of contents.
• Informix Handbook. Flannery. 4.5 stars. August 2000. Expensive. Includes CD-ROM (with copy of Dynamic Server and Informix documentation). 1440 pages! History ... SQL syntax ... Web e-commerce ... site building ... new data types ... warehousing ... programming ... and on and on. Of course you can't cover everything in a mere 1440 pages, but Flannery makes the best of the space available, it's sensibly organized. Read introduction.
• Dynamic Web Programming: Using Java, JavaScript, and Informix. Harrison. 4.5 stars. December 1999. If and only if you're going to be setting up a web site with Informix, you need this. Read preface. Read an excerpt.
• Informix Dynamic Server 2000: Server-Side Programming In C. Roy. 4 stars. November 1999. Includes CD-ROM (which has BladeSmith and Informix's documentation on it). This is good for people who have figured out SQL and are ready for DataBlades, so the topics are advanced: User-Defined Types, Iterator Functions, "Smart Blobs", plus debugging and C-interface considerations. Download a sample PDF chapter.
• Informix Universal Data Option. Allen, Bambara. 4 stars. May 1998. Useful for developers.
• Informix Power Reference. Taylor. 4 stars. October 1998. Includes CD-ROM (but you'll notice that most Informix books do). The author is an Informix consultant who also wrote "Informix NewEra: A Programmer's Guide". This book covers Informix-4GL and the commonly used parts of the Data Control Language. Read publicity.
• Administering Informix Dynamic Server On Windows NT. Doe. 3.5 stars. April 1999. Includes CD-ROM (the CD-ROM contains Informix 7.3 but you have to register with Informix to install). The title is well chosen, this is for DBAs rather than programmers. Download a sample PDF chapter.
• SAP R/3 For the Informix DBA. Nathans. 3 stars. November 1999. For Unix DBAs. I can't understand what he is saying. Read a sample PDF chapter.
• Beginning SQL Programming. Walsh, Kauffmann, Matsik, Spencer. 3 stars. Since a few of the examples are in Informix, we include this book on this page rather than counting it as a general SQL title. See the publisher's advertising.
• Informix DBA Survival Guide. 2nd edition. Lumbley, Demeulle, Pitarresi. 5 stars. December 1998. Includes CD-ROM (the CD-ROM is a computer-based training course). If you already know the "Informix Basics", this is the better deal. But out of print, so this link usually won't work.
• Open-Source Components for Informix Dynamic Server 9.x. Roy et al. No stars. December 2001. Includes CD-ROM. The title doesn't do the book justice, there is a lot of general discussion of interest to the broad community, not just the opensourceophiliacs. Read a sample chapter. Warning: this is a very slow download.

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