C++ Database Development: Featuring Parody the Persistent Almost-Relational Object Database Management System [Paperback]

Al Stevens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1992

Provides all the tools needed to write C++ database programs and explore the full potential of the C++ object-oriented language, including database fundamentals and design, database management, building the software, and more. Original. (Advanced).

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Mis Pr (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558282165
• ISBN-13: 978-1558282162
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,928,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Al Stevens is a writer and musician. He is the author of more than two dozen books on computer programming and use and countless magazine articles. For fifteen years, Stevens was the C Programming Columnist for Dr. Dobb's Journal, an international magazine for computer programmers.

Al lives in Florida with his wife Judy and a menagerie of cats. He ventures out to play with local jazz groups. He also performs as a comedy ventriloquist.

You can read more at Al's website, http://www.alstevens.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much more here than meets the eye., February 1, 2002

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This review is from: C++ Database Development: Featuring Parody the Persistent Almost-Relational Object Database Management System (Paperback)

Al Stevens, C++ Database Development (MIS Press, 1992)

Two questions come to mind as to why anyone would be reading a ten-year-old book on database development in an outdated edition written to cater to an operating system that (almost) no longer exists in any meaningful way. (Or why they would be reading a review of such a book.) Those two questions are, first, is it still a valuable book for any reasons other than archival, and second, does it teach the reader anything that might still be applicable in a world whose technology is so far removed from that which was extant when the book was first published?

The answer is yes to both counts. It’s possible that newer editions of this book have belied Stevens’ assertion in the 1992 edition that he would never integrate the code from either this or his previous (C Database Development) book into a Windows framework. More’s the pity if they do, because what Stevens provides us with here is not only a model of good programming technique, but also a ready-made set of programs that can be taken and integrated into a Windows framework. The book itself provides something of it in its own DOS-based GUI class, which provides a starting point for those who would extend the information herein into Windows.

Stevens presents us with the programs to create a part-relational part-object database, but that doesn’t mean the book’s audience should be limited to programmers who want to build a database from scratch. Stevens’ excellent explanation of technique is worth reading for anyone who uses any of the technologies on which Stevens touches—database designers and maintainers, C++ coders of any level of expertise, etc. There is much to be taken away from this book other than its original goal, and that does make it, still, a worthwhile read.

Stevens takes us through the software-modeling procedure step by step while building the PARODY database, and in the process introduces us to abstract design technique. He then goes on to show us the implementation, false starts and all, and most importantly ties all the code snippets shown in various parts of the book together into a coherent application at the end, a step sorely needed in far more programming books I’ve read than I care to remember. Perhaps C++ Database Development’s most important potential market is that of future programming textbook writers; many could take a few lessons from Al Stevens. 3 ½ stars