Books
This page details some of my favourite programming books.
Fusebox: Developing ColdFusion Applicatons
by Jeffrey Peters and Nat Papovich
The definitive guide to Fusebox 3, this easy to follow guide steps through the concepts behind the Fusebox application framework and the FLiP development methodology. Includes useful reference to available variables. Now superseded by a somewhat expensive Fusebox 4 book.
Database Design for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Relational Database Design
by Michael J. Hernandez
This is the one book that should be bought by anyone new to relational database design. Hernandez explains clearly the theory behind relational databases and why it is important that a database be designed correctly. Unlike some others, he also treats the pre-design phase at some length - interviewing users and properly understanding the nature of the data to be captured - which is essential to a sound final design.
Joe Celko's SQL for Smarties: Advanced SQL Programming
by Joe Celko
In this book Celko starts with a few chapters devoted to database design before moving on to a comprehensive discussion of the language (statements, predicates, clauses and functions), and finally techniques for dealing with structures not easily handled in SQL: runs and sequences, arrays, trees and graphs. He finishes up with a chapter on optimisation.
Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity
by Jakob Nielsen
Nielsen's book, first published in early 2000, is as relevant today as it was five years ago. Nielsen painstakingly sifts through common mistakes made in the design of a website that conspire to make a site difficult to use. As he astutely points out, your site is not the only site on the internet - if a user has problems, he is likely to take his custom elsewhere.