Customer Reviews

Data Warehouse: From Architecture to Implementation

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had a good idea of what data warehousing was all about before reading this book, but Devlin helped me organize all of the bits and pieces into a (his) well architected view of the subject. The book provides an excellent, well organized overview of DW while providing enough detail to be useful to almost anyone involved in the process of building or maintaining a DW.

Devlin's book provides an excellent theoretical foundation for designing what I call a complete Business Intelligence Environment (BIE). He provides a number of valuable tips on how to implement as well as design the BIE.

The book is well-organized and very clearly written, with the text nicely laid out on the page, making it a good deal easier to read than most books on such a dry subject.

My objective in reading the book was to put together a diagram of a complete architecture for the BIE. Using his book I was able to quickly create one by tying together the various components he describes. It would have been helpful if Devlin had done this "assembly" himself as a means of concluding the architectural aspect.

I say this because when I integrated the various components into a unified picture, a number of questions came to mind that I couldn't find answers for in his text. The only other aspect I would criticize is that he should have addressed more attention to the systems management component, since it seems to me more complex than he indicates.

Nonetheless, an excellent reference and foundation for understanding this important area of Information Technology.

This book is very informative and well-written high-level view of the data warehouse, from conceptual planning to implementation. However, the publishing quality is the worst I have ever seen. The internal content of this book appears to be a cheap photocopy of a master record - text is distorted on every single page, in some cases very badly, graphs and charts are grainy and in some cases impossible to read, and the spine is flimsy at best and came apart on me after a single reading.

Bottom line - the content is excellent but AVOID THIS EDITION!!

It's very good theoretical book, but sadly without practical things. If you need clear theory, then it's ok, but if you search for practical things - the best book's are from Ralph Kimball.