Developing Time-Oriented Database Applications in SQL (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) [Paperback]

Richard T. Snodgrass (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems | Publication Date: July 26, 1999

Whether you're a database designer, programmer, analyst, or manager, you've probably encountered some of the challenges-and experienced some of the frustrations-associated with time-varying data. Where do you turn to fix the problem and see that it doesn't happen again? In Developing Time-Oriented Database Applications in SQL, a leading SQL researcher teaches you effective techniques for designing and building database applications that must integrate past and current data. Written to meet a pervasive, enduring need, this book will be indispensible if you happen to be part of the flurry of activity leading up to Y2K.

The enclosed CD-ROM contains all of the code fragments-implemented for Oracle8 Server, IBM DB2 Universal Database, Microsoft SQL Server, and other systems-and evaluation copies of the programs discussed in the book.

* Offers incisive advice on recording temporal data using SQL data types, defining appropriate integrity constraints, updating temporal tables, and querying temporal tables with interactive and embedded SQL.
* Provides case studies detailing real-world problems and solutions in areas such as event data, state-based data, partitioned data, and audit logs.
* Contains over 400 code fragments with detailed explanations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What is everywhere but occupies no space; can be measured but not seen or touched; can be spent, wasted, or killed, but not destroyed or changed? The simple answer is time, and the relationship between the fourth dimension and data is the foundation for Developing Time-Oriented Database Applications in SQL, a fascinating book by Richard T. Snodgrass.

Anyone who has ever attempted to create or modify a database containing temporal data will appreciate the complexity of the task. Snodgrass's book aims to simplify it by first helping the reader fully understand the concepts involved before covering the SQL code needed to carry out the work. The book is punctuated with interesting information about the measurement of time through the ages, plus illustrative examples of where disaster has occurred following the misuse of time-specific data, and it comes with a free CD-ROM containing example code.

Make no mistake, this book is by no means an easy read. It's complex and very wordy, and non-programmers may get lost in the SQL quite quickly. This aside, it's an informative, well-written attempt to explain a complicated concept. --Steve Russell, amazon.co.uk

Review

"I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in temporal data-either designing and building databases that record information over time, or just understanding the concepts that underlie representing temporal information... an excellent job of organizing and summarizing this important area."
—From the foreword by Jim Gray, Microsoft Research

"a long time in the making, not only because the subject matter can seem overwhelmingly complex if not presented carefully, but also because of the great number of examples that Snodgrass has taken from real application systems and translated into standard SQL..."
—From the foreword by Jim Melton, Oracle Corporation

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann (July 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558604367
• ISBN-13: 978-1558604360
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buying a hardcopy will cost you, but you can get it online for free..., January 23, 2006

By 

David Beardsley (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Developing Time-Oriented Database Applications in SQL (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) (Paperback)

People seem to be selling used copies of this book for quite a bit ($125+) but you can get a PDF of the book for free from the author:

http://www.cs.arizona.edu/people/rts/tdbbook.pdf

Thanks to the author for providing this resource!

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quickly understand temporal data, November 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Developing Time-Oriented Database Applications in SQL (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) (Paperback)

Professor Snodgrass has effectively communicated temporal data to me with this top-notch book. I have been designing systems for 25+ years and, for me, this book ranks with Donald Knuth's, "Art of Programming: Fundamental Algorithms (first edition)" and Charles Petzold's "Programming Windows", for its impact, in particular on my thinking process in software development. Every system I review, every table I design, every object that I design be considered differently than before I read this book.

His analogies are "country", but important. It took three settings of an hour each on 10 pages until the concepts really sank in. I have seen these constructs in Data Warehouses, but now I see a future for these in transactional systems.

Every time based system will eventually incorporate these concepts (and new SQL tools) - In particular all accounting systems including banking, brokerage (especially portfolio management), tax accounting.

For example, right now we are working on a system to track and manage vendor problems in a "just in time" manufacturing environment. If our tables had been designed with these temporal concepts, we would be able to more effectively communicate trends to our management users.

Those people who are familiar with these concepts may find it boring, but for those of us learning, I say thank you!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Widely and immediately useful, September 12, 2001

By 

Thomas Cox (Beaverton, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Developing Time-Oriented Database Applications in SQL (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) (Paperback)

I've used this book while working as the lead data architect on several large database projects, and it's been a lifesaver. It brings rigor and discipline to a very difficult area for SQL (true relational) databases: handling, reporting on, and storing the changing [versions of] data over time.

The concepts are themselves quite difficult and challenging, and I would be loathe to even attempt to build a system tracking changing data over time without this book's priceless assistance.

Another reviewer, an instructor, didn't like the book: it is not a tutorial and may be hard to use, understand, or follow if you are not already working on a problem that this book can help you solve.

But if you are involved in creating (say) an insurance application that must handle retroactivity, or a financial system that must be able to re-create an earlier financial report and explain why today's version of Q2 is different from yesterday's, then you NEED this book.