database design

This book is an excellent, comprehensive, INTRODUCTION to relational database theory. The book clearly explains what are usually the most frustrating, yet critical, concepts for those new to database design and implementation - entity-relationship modeling, normalization, and transaction management - through the use of illustrated examples, diagrams, and comprehensible text. Of course, the book also thoroughly covers the essential concepts of SQL, ODBC, security, and data integrity.

Database Systems also offers some treatment of more advanced database topics like Web connectivity (JDBC, ASP, XML), OLAP, data warehousing, object-oriented databases, and object-relational databases.

The book is well organized and logical in sequence, and thus makes a good reference book as well.

Notes: This is NOT A "COMPLETE REFERENCE" for all database systems. The book does not offer "complete" coverage of specialized database concepts/issues like database performance tuning, OLAP, or data warehousing, though these subjects are examined in the book to some extent. These subjects are complex enough to warrant separate texts. Also, the book does not exclusively embrace any relational database software title (Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, etc.) Since any one of these products is extremely complex, do not buy this book in expectation of becoming a vendor-specific DBA. Again, separate texts would be required to realize such an achievement.

This book will take you from the basics to advanced. Covers tons of stuff (actual page count is over 1000 pp): basic and adv SQL, query tuning, database design, security, ODBC, object oriented databases, distributed systems, relational algebra, security, OLAP and datawarehousing. Its coverage is not skimpy or superficial either. The design chapters are excellent - especially if you're a professional and don't just hack together databases. Also, I found this book easy to read. You won't have to reread stuff because it's poorly written.

This was a required text for a graduate course in database programming. Let me just tell you it is WAY too generic. Also, its way too big. It tries to cover everything, but does it in such a boring way.

In terms of writing style, it seems to me as if the author is trying to pad as many words as possible to each chapter. He always starts and ends with what he is going to discuss or what he has already discussed instead of just either starting or ending. I wanted to tell him, "Don't tell me what you are going to talk about just do it already."

I highly disliked the writing style. However, on a few chapters it was just marginal. All in all I can't wait to sell it back at the end of the semester as it was entirely useless to me in almost every conceivable way.

In fact, I found Ben Forta's $12 book on sql far better and more useful than this huge worthless paperback. Throughout the duration of the course, I found myself going to the university library checking out other books in order to find out what I needed rather than this one.

Bottomline: I am very upset that my instructor chose this book as it was a total waste of my time and more importantly my money.