Inside the Database Object Model [Hardcover]

Donald K. Burleson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0849318076 | ISBN-13: 978-0849318078 | Edition: 1

Databases and database system design are in the midst of a major transition to object-oriented databases. Moving from relational database architecture to an object-oriented technology is the next logical step in database design.
With the properties of encapsulation, abstraction, and polymorphism, object technology systems are moving toward a unified data model that reflects the real world far more effectively than previous modeling techniques. Object-oriented development emphasizes the benefits of modular and reusable computer code as well as the benefits of modeling real-world objects. A properly designed object-oriented model also promises to be maintenance-free - all changes to data attributes and behaviors become a database task, not a programming task. Furthermore, object-oriented databases will store data, the relationships between data, and the behavior of data. Once data behaviors are added into a database management system, these "intelligent" databases will dramatically change the development of database systems.
Inside the Database Object Model shows how objects are added to commerical database systems, outlining why object-oriented development is best suited for dynamic, interactive environments. The book reflects the revolutionary change in database architecture, providing plenty of usable code and other illustrative material. The book explores how object technology is being incorporated into database management systems.
Although virtually every major database vendor adds objects to their database engines, their approaches vastly differ. Inside the Database Object Model:

Explores the history and architecture of database system and the evolution of object technology

Examines the differences between relational database approach and the approach to object technology

Describes how major vendors approach basic object constructs, including encapsulation, abstract data types, polymorphisms, and aggregate objects

Describes how inheritance can be used with database objects

Outlines how to couple data with behavior using models

Demonstrates how C++ applications store data in a relational database

Identifies how Oracle, the world's leading relational database, extends SQL to exist with objects

Enables readers to design and implement real-world objects using object/relational technology
Major database vendors, such as Oracle, Informix, Sybase, and IBM, are rapidly moving into object-oriented database design. This book helps you through the transition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 1 edition (June 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849318076
• ISBN-13: 978-0849318078
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,957,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donald K. Burleson is one of the world's most widely published Database experts with more than 20 years of full-time DBA experience.

He specializes in creating database architectures for very large online databases and he has worked with some of the world's most powerful and complex systems.

A former Adjunct Professor Emeritus, Burleson has written 30 books, published more than 100 articles in National Magazines, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Rampant TechPress.

Don is a popular lecturer and teacher and is a frequent speaker at Oracle Openworld and other international database conferences.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent text, July 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside the Database Object Model (Hardcover)

This is by far the best book that I have seen on the details of how objects are used in relational databases. The text is well-written and easy to understand, and it greatly assisted me in understanding objects. Overall, an excellent book

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fails to convince, November 5, 2003

By 

QuinnC (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside the Database Object Model (Hardcover)

This book reads like a sales pitch, but whatever advantages OODBs have are not made any clearer in this book.

The book admits early on that an OODB is more brittle than a RDB, and then states that the advantage is that you can now "associate behavior" with objects in the database, but this has been possible with RDBs for awhile (admittedly not in any portable fashion). This is typical for the book. As is confusion between implementation and the underlying model. Additionally, explanations of concepts like "object" and "method" (and other terms) are rather fuzzy.

The book tries to create the appearance of balance, but it is so obviously trying to push objects that the clarity of thought and presentation suffer. In my view objects are obviously useful, but the theory for them is not worked out yet. Until then, they can fit neatly within a relational framework. Bluntly: a new database model is not required, just better implementations.

Verdict: Not Sold. Neither the argument, nor the book (I skimmed it at the local shop and saved myself the expense).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not so good?, September 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside the Database Object Model (Hardcover)

I find this book poorly written and inaccurate. Here's just one example of a confusion (page 48):

"A database object may have a different OID each time that it is loaded onto the heap (memory)... Each time an object is created, a unique OID (object identifier) is added to the OODBMS (object-oriented database management system) identifier table. When an application references an object via its OID, the OODBMS converts the OID into a virtual memory address. This means that the object can be found quickly regardless of where it is stored, i.e., local memory, a remote hard disk, or on a device in a networked system... An OID once assigned to an object by the system, lasts the lifetime of an object."

So does the OID change when the object is loaded from a hard drive into memory, or not? What is the "lifetime" of an object: its entire existence, or only so long as it hasn't been garbage collected from memory? I find the above highly confusing! And there are many more examples like it.

The text is also highly repetitive; the acronym "SQL" and its "translation" is introduced three times on pages 45-47, each time as if it has not been talked about before.

A good copy editor would have helped, too. The use of commas where semicolons would have been less confusing is just one example.

In sum, while there are gems in here, there's a lot of overburden.