Database Solutions: A step-by-step guide to building databases [Paperback]

Thomas Connolly (Author), Carolyn Begg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 1999 | Series: Database Solutions

Do you carry the world on your shoulders? Does every request for a new business system from senior management land on your desk? Are you responsible for designing and creating the databases that keep your business running? Would you like to make the design and build process smoother, quicker and more reliable?

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Database Solutions:A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Databases by Thomas Connolly & Carolyn Begg

Do you carry the world on your shoulders? Does every request for a new business system from Senior Management land on your desk? Are you responsible for designing and creating the databases that keep your business running? Would you like to make the design and build process smoother, quicker and more reliable?

Recipe for disaster:

• Take one RDMS
  
• Follow instructions on packet
  

Recipe for success:

• Take one RDMS n any of the major commercial products will do***Oracle***Informix***SQL Server***Access***Paradox
  
• Add one thorough reading of Database Solutions if you are an inexperienced database designer, or one recap of the methodology if you are an old hand
  
• Use the design and implementation frameworks to plan your timetable
  
• Measure out a common data model that fits your requirements and adapt as necessary
  
• Weigh up advice and tips from the authors - experienced professionals
  

Make life easy. Look in this book and CD-ROM for:

• Step-by-step instructions on designing and building databases
  
• Advice and tips on building a successful database
  
• Comprehensive guidance on avoiding pitfalls and traps
  
• How to create data models using the new design notation, UML (with appendices mapping to Chen's notation and the Crow's Feet notation)
  
• Shortcuts: 15 sample data models to adapt to your needs, chosen from 7 common business areas, plus SQL scripts for each
  
• Two full length, coded example databases written on Microsoft Access 97 and Oracle 8
  
• Evaluation copy of Rational's UML visual modelling tool, Rose.
  

0201674769B04062001

About the Author

Thomas Connolly was a designer of RAPPORT, the world's first commercial portable DBMS, and of the LIFESPAN configuration management tool -- a winner of the British Design Award.

Carolyn Begg specializes in the application of database systems in biological research. They are both authors of the best-selling book Database Systems, also published by Addison-Wesley.

0201674769AB04062001

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (December 23, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201674769
• ISBN-13: 978-0201674767
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,527,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great teaching resource, November 3, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Calgary) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Database Solutions: A step-by-step guide to building databases (Paperback)

This book strikes just the right balance between theoretic rigour and practical examples/advice. The book defines an explicit, multi-step methodology, covering everything from requirements analysis, to logical modeling, to physical implementation, then shows how the methodology can be used in two involved, yet accessible, practice cases. The authors also sensibly show how this is implemented in common DBMSs (Access and Oracle).

If that wasn't worthwhile enough, the book contains two superb appendixes: one shows alternative modelling notations, the other provides diagrams and tables for 15 common data models. These in particular are an excellent idea -- I'm surprised more database design books don't provide them.

At any rate, this is the one database design book that I tend to recommend to my students. For students who are finding the formal computer science database design textbook too abstract, this book is a good counterweight; for students who need a single overview of database design, this book too is a great choice.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book!!, April 19, 2002

By 

An avid reader (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Database Solutions: A step-by-step guide to building databases (Paperback)

The authors have probably done a favour to the database designer community with this book. Wonder why nobody thought about a book of this kind before. There are numerous books on generic DBMS but very few on Database Design. The book is equally useful for managers and developers. The examples are superb and have been thoughtfully presented and analysed.

Also the fact that the authors decided to use UML as the data modeling notation instead of traditional notations makes this book more "in tune with times" and "practically applicable" in a software development environment.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really explains it well, October 25, 2003

By 

brianl "brian393" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Database Solutions: A step-by-step guide to building databases (Paperback)

I liked this book from the start because it explains how to start up a database from scratch to finalization and with great detail. 426 pages of good information for the amateur or pro. Comes with a CD full of examples and sql scripts to use and two full length, coded example databases.