R help - Feb 2004 - books: "Programming with Data: A Guide to the S Language" vs." S Programming"

Hi,
 
Could someone please compare "Programming with Data: A Guide to the S
Language" by J. Chambers and " S Programming" by W. Venables and
B.
Ripley? Ideally, I need a "guide" for writing R OO-style packages that
intensively interact with C/C++ libraries.
 
The specific project I have in mind is to write a thin and limited
DB-connectivity package that would interact with Oracle via its OCCI
interface (it's an intention subject to time availability and project
complexity). If you've been there or somehow think this is a daunting
task I'd love to hear from you.
 
Thanks,
Vadim

	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]