Q Tips: Fast, Scalable and Maintainable Kdb+

Nick is an amazing author and break complex topics down very simply. This book gives you so much that you need to know, and I recommend it as a starting point for Q... and I work at KX!

This book is outstanding. KDB+ is a very powerful system, but newcomers can be intimidated by two things: its steep learning curve and the seeming lack of organized introductory material. When I was learning KDB, I considered two resources to be indispensable: First Derivatives "KDB+ Reference Manual" and Boror's "Q for Mortals." Psaris' new text is a VERY welcome addition to that collection. Psaris' book will gently start you with the basics, and then lead you into more powerful examples. The book is very well organized, and I especially enjoyed his explanations as to the rationale as to why KDB does things the way it does. KDB's error messages ("`type"?) can be cryptic, but Psaris' book helped my understanding quite a bit. I bought a copy for myself, but I also bought a copy for my colleague because this book is a godsend for people new to Q. If you're in the same position I was in - experienced in C/C++/Java (but not in any array programming languages); some development/DBA experience in Oracle or MySQL and you think KDB will be more of that same (it most certainly will not); and you have to learn KDB+ - this book will help you immensely.

Excellent book. I far prefer this to "q for mortals" which is the free book KX puts on its website. Lots of great usable examples, which are worth much more than their cost to the practitioner. Kudos to nick.

I found it very hard to learn KDB and Q purely from the wiki as the provided tutorials focus on low level language details and not how to approach or structure a project. If you are serious about learning KDB, "Q Tips" will be a worthwhile investment.

Awesome book and recommend for any Q seekers

Love it. Amazing tips. Now it is always on my desk. Good job

I find this book exceedingly hard to follow to the point that I believe it defies its purpose to serve as an introductory treatment. I skipped over some sections on in chapters 2 and 3, figuring that I'd fill in the holes later, but in chapter 4 on functions I got terminally frustrated. It's too difficult to follow the author, at least for me and I should say that I have a pretty serious programming background stretching decades across academia and the financial industry. At times it is apparent that the author is not trained as a mathematician or engineer/scientist as he doesn't seem familiar with elementary mathematical concepts, which leads to poor wording of his explanations. But this isn't fundamentally the problem. The overall pace of presentation of the material is too fast for a q novice. It's too bad as I think the book's project is in principle terrific. I really wanted to like this book. I recommend the alternative "Q for Mortals" instead, which offers much more readable presentation.

Book content is excellent.. No doubt about it.. 5 stars for the content.. one star less because of paper n overall binding quality.

Q is not easy language, so is the book. Wish there would be cloud version not commercial

Well written, interesting, good examples and illustrations of key points.

Not for beginners though. Need to read Q for Mortals first

I've been working as a KDB developer for some years, leading teams at both investment banks and a hedge fund. There is information if you are learning by yourself, would take years to work out. It differs from 'the other book', Q For Mortals in that it takes a from-the-trenches approach to applying Q language features in the real world. There is a logical progression of ideas that leads to useful and usable code. A great addition to the somewhat sparse set of KDB literature.

Very satisfied!