Customer Reviews

DB2 Universal Database for Client/Server. (Concepts, Design, Programming, and Reference)

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

 

 

I found this book very valuable. I am just starting to use DB2. I have no background in relational database. This book has help me a lot to understand basic concepts of database, especially DB2. I recommend it!!!!

What is Client/Server Architecture? How does DB2 Universal meet the challenges imposed by this architecture? What are the key concepts and terminology you have to become familiar with? What is a Relational Database System, and what are the steps required to design the database for your application? Do you need a good, wide ranging, introduction (with examples) to the SQL language? What do you need to know to develop DB2 applications, write interactive SQL queries to extract information, and maintain your databases? Any one looking for help with any or all of these questions will find Mitra's book to be of great benefit. Let us now get down to specifics of this book.

An overview of the Client/Server architecture presents the main components (client, server and middleware). Industry standards are then discussed. The next chapter is devoted to DB2 Client issues, including set up and enabling of clients, software development (Developers kit), and on protocols used to communicate with the server(s). Another chapter describes the DB2 UDB as a Server. After introducing the Relational Database concept, the components (DB2 objects) are defined. Coverage includes the usual objects such as tables, columns, indexes etc., plus objects such as Packages, Stored Procedures, Triggers, and Functions. Table and Referential Integrity are discussed, and the Schema concept is introduced. The SQL language and its three components - DML (Data Management Language), DDL (Data Definition Language) and DCL (Data Control Language) - are presented.

Data Base Design is addressed next. Business Information gathering, Logical Database Design, the Normalization process, and the establishment of Entity and Referential Integrity rules are covered. The Physical database is then designed using the information gathered plus performance requirements. The use of DDL to create DB2 objects and to define Table and Referential Integrity Rules, is demonstrated using an extensive set of examples. The use of DDL to Alter and/or Drop DB2 objects, is also explained.

Data Manipulation is the subject of a separate chapter and is an excellent tutorial on the basic features of SQL (DML). Using examples, the basic SQL patterns are illustrated. The next chapter expands on this theme covering more advanced features such as subqueries, the EXISTS clause, Unions, Joins and Check Constrains. The concept of Outer Join is introduced (no example is provided, however). User Defined Data Types (UDTs), User Defined Functions(UDFs), Large Objects, Views (virtual tables), and Database Triggers are introduced and illustrated.

The chapter on Distributed Relational Database Architecture (DRDA) discusses the DDCS connectivity product (now called DB2 Connect), the Unit of Work concept, Database Directories, and Administration issues. Both the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) architecture and its Java incarnation (JDBC), are described.

Application design is the subject of another chapter. Access Methods (embedded SQL) and Transaction Processing are defined. Embedded (static and dynamic) SQL programming is illustrated with examples using C/C++. The SQL Cursor, needed to handle Result Sets, is well described using examples. Application Design using the Call Level Interface(CLI) is demonstrated using REXX and JAVA examples.

The book has comprehensive Reference chapters for Built-In functions and Command Line Process Commands.

In conclusion, the book meets its stated goal very well. For those who would like to develop their expertise further, I suggest that future editions include lists for further reading. Additionally, a chapter on the DB2 Catalog Tables/Views would enhance the Reference value of this book.

I found this book very useful. The explanations of relational databases, SQL, and DB2 are very easy to undertand. Highly recommended.

Also, a reference to all the DB2 commands with clear descriptions and examples makes this book very valuable for a long time.

This is a terrible, horrible, no-good excuse for a book! It explains concepts in a very superficial manner. Perhaps this kind of a book is excellent for a liberal arts major, but as a computer programmer wishing to learn DB2, I find it useless. Even the English used in the book is sloppy. I tried to understand some concepts - for example, the concept of bind files. I read the relevant pages over and over again, and they simply didn't make any sense because, I realized, the author wasn't really explaining anything. Here's what the author says: "What is bind? During the bind process, database access plans are stored for each SQL statement and used during the execution time. These utility programs come with many SQL statements. The access plans for each program are determined during the precompile process and are contained in a "bind file"." Note that not once has the author explained what binding is. He trots out a few vague and nebulous statements that glibly mention what happens in a bind and refers to "access plans" without describing what the latter are. Ugh! Don't waste your money on this turkey. Get something useful instead.