Database Design for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Relational Database Design (Paperback)

by Michael J. Hernandez (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Relational databases are powerful tools for organizing data, but learning to use them effectively can be painful. Relational Database Design for Mere Mortals explains the concepts of relational-database design in an easy-to-digest fashion that covers both the theoretical underpinnings and their practical implications. Hernandez covers all the basics--table and field structure, keys, relationships, business rules, and more--but always keeps his feet on the ground with advice for real-world implementations and a particularly strong section on analyzing your current database infrastructure.

From Library Journal
This truly excellent introduction to relational database design will work for both novices and advanced designers because the book does not tie itself to any particular database implementation. Hernandez has years of database design and training experience. For all levels from public to university libraries.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1st edition (December 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201694719
• ISBN-13: 978-0201694710
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #543,964 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good start for fundamentals, December 11, 1999

By	Christopher S. Susi (Earth. You are here.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A few days after reading 1/2 the book I nearly wrote a review giving the book 0 stars. Truly pages 50-200 can be condensed into about 10 pages. However, the chapters about building the tables, relationships, fields attributes, business rules are very well written to give an overview for the non-technical person or somebody getting started. Also, many times books that teach a language will avoid fundamental skills such as database design and these are more important than understanding syntax (you will know if your syntax is wrong when you run the program, you wont know your design is f-ed up till 6 months into implementation).

If you haven't had database design exposure through a Comp Sci program, this is an excellent starting point. Due to it's non-technical descriptions this is a good read if you are overseeing software/database project (project manager, manager commisioning a design house, etc.) and are not entirely computer literate.

On the downside, I would have liked it if he did associate the various nomalization terms that he ends up discussing but without actually saying that is what they are (e.g. breaking apart multi-valued fields, etc). Certainly if you have seen this already and would like more detailed information then consider Teorey's Database Modeling & Design which is more advanced.

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent concepts for all database designers, March 14, 2000

By A Customer

I was first introduced to this book in College while I was learning relational database design and modeling concepts. Almost anyone can open Access and build a database, but are they doing it correctly? Knowing how to do something and WHY you are doing it are entirely different things. This book takes complicated technical information and breaks it out into an efficient and easy to understand format that anyone from a beginner to an expert can use and understand. Not only do you finish understanding the how and the why of relational design, but you have also been exposed to the detailed process of designing for others, methods of interviewing and example questions that show you how to get the information you need from your users that's crucial to your design. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it since the concepts are software independent. At my last job, our SQL DBA called this book his Bible. I just recently ordered it again for a friend who's beginning to learn about databases. Two thumbs up!

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars there are better books out there, February 7, 2003

By A Customer

This book is adequate but not great as an introduction to designing databases. I agree with other reviewers that it's quite repetitive and goes to extremes on details like field specifications. I suppose if you know nothing about DB design this book is OK - but you'll need other books and lots of practice designing your own databases if you truly want to become proficient. A much better general intro book to databases and simple design is 'Inside Relational Databases' by Whitehorn & Marklyn. Novices should look at 'Absolute Beginner's Guide to Databases' by John V. Petersen first.

Once you've mastered those 2 books then get the best available book on DB design/modeling: 'Case*Method: Entity Relationship Modelling' by Richard Barker. It's excellent.

Two other options for university level/advanced modeling: 'Database Modeling & Design' by Toby J. Teorey and 'Data Modeling Essentials: Analysis, Design, and Innovation' by Graeme C. Simsion