Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Setting your Foundation , March 9, 2006
Learning to develop and manage database systems professionally ie:client/server and web-based applications, requires a thorough understanding of the core underpinnings Re: database & application design and development.
Book 1:
-Database Development and Management (foundations of Database Design)" ISBN: 0849333180
Book 2:
-Database Design and Development a Visual approach" ISBN: 0130351229
are 2 books that help fill gaps in the area of database development, specifically as it relates to the relational theory, your choice of relational design/development methodology, transforming a conceptual database blueprint into a working logical and physical design, and carrying out the nitty-gritty implementation aspects of your design using SQL and other database & programming constructs.
Now with regards each book :
Note: (due to review real estate constraints, i shall limit this review to Book 2, the current book in question.
you'll find a Book 1 review on the customer review page for :Database Development and Management (foundations of Database Design)" ÏSBN: 0849333180
Book 2: "Database Design and Development a Visual approach" ISBN 0130351229;
This book shows you how, (by stepping one literally and visually through multi-frame diagrams) to:
- create databases with ORACLE using SQL
- create databases with MS SQL SERVER using SQL and
- create databases in MS Access using SQL
and how to retrieve data from each of these specific database implementations as well.
it equally instructs on how to access databases via web-applications with Microsoft ASP.Net, & on how to maintain a database with Microsoft ASP.Net .
I enjoyed the manner in which the authors went to work on the relational theory, delineating step-by-step the conceptual design process, normalization and how to consolidate a database design/blueprint to weed out / curbit any design excesses.
from this book you will learn
Fundamentals:
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- what a database is, what the elements, component parts & pieces that make one up are.
-what the database development process is all about, what is involved within each of the different stages , what the different stages are there for, & where to commence each task within the database project from,(step by step)
For example: in the Conceptual design stage, we are provided a straight forward, no fluff, 5-step process for ERD construction, to determine what constitues an entity & how to identify entities by oneself.
this is accomplished by asking 2 questions:
-"is there more than one" ie: (is there more than one instance?),
-"is there a variation over time" ie: (do the number of instances grow & shrink, change, get added or removed over the years) .
- instructions on how one even begins to produce a blueprint-design/data model for a database ie: whats involved,what does it take ie:(the actual pratical hands on step-by-step actions involved).
-how do you get to the physical table structures, normalize, transform a blueprint you learn to produce, into a physical database object, and how you get to implementing it all in SQL.
whether you are interested in developing or supporting database infrastructure's for ORACLE, MS Access, SQL Server or IBM's DB2, the design foundations holds.
At the end of reading this book , you will be able to apply the knowledge u will have progressively gathered from progressing through the database system development life cycle's A to Z, to design & develop a db that solves a business problem .
you will have down rather well, the steps to laying out/producing a good database application design blueprint using both the theoretical underpinnings of (the conceptual design stage), and the hands-on practise you will have garnered, from stepping through the db system development lifecycle.
Also, you will have learnt how to access your databases via a web enabled front-end interface you will develop for it using Microsoft ASP.Net ie: how to create a web-enabled front-end UI(user interface)using Visual Web developer,to interface with your database and make it possible to gain access to your database over the web.
the book equally instructs as well on how to maintain the database you've created by these means, from the Web-enabled user interface application u developed using ASP.Net
I appreciated the approach used in this book because it is a more wholistic approach , teaching one how to design and develop a database and intergrate ASP.Net to create forms with menus et cetera which allow you to gain access , query the databases contents & harness its power right over the internet.
This is a rather relevant & sought after skill in the job market today; making this book a useful find for those who want to learn how to build a complete database solution through a test database project undertaking.
Thanks to book 1 and 2, you will have a very solid hands-on foundation in working both the db design theory angle and its direct implementation aspects.
A recent other book i found & just finished reading regarding building web-enabled interfaces and building internet solutions around accessible client/server database applications, is a book entitled: "Internet & World Wide Web, How to Program" (3rd edition) ISBN: 8120328027. (a great volumn)
But that is another story
cheers :-)
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This book is NOT for beginners. Very obtuse and boring., September 29, 2007
I am taking a Database class online with my local college and this is the required text. This book is very difficult to understand. The wording in this book reminds me of the political science texts I had to suffer through to fulfill basic requirements in undergraduate school. Many passages seem very circular. I have a master's degree in mathematics and am already familiar with database design and I still am often perplexed by the unclear writing and examples in this book. After reading chapter four I could not even attempt the exercises. (I have a 98% average 1/2 way through the sememter.) So, in desperation, I finally went online to see if anyone else had a better explanation of what should be basic terms and ideas. Within 10 minutes I had found several websites that explained all terminology very clearly with excellent, concrete, consistent, examples.
So, I am completely giving up on this book. I will use some of the great websites I have found to learn this subject matter instead. I only need the book now for my class homework. It is upsetting b/c I paid over $100 for nothing.
I did read the other review. He must work for the book company or already know a lot more than I do about databases. Bottom line, if you are a beginning database designer or need this a supplementary material for a class, LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE. If you are an instructor, please, please find a better book for your students.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great price, February 9, 2009
The book was exactly as described by the seller. The price was right and the shipping was extremely quick.
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by Anthony V. Chiarella
by Mark Ciampa
by Cheryl Glenn
