Fundamentals of Database Systems (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Shamkant B. Navathe (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Clear explanations of theory and design, broad coverage of models and real systems, and an up-to-date introduction to modern database technologies result in a leading introduction to database systems. With fresh new problems and a new lab manual, students get more opportunities to practice the fundamentals of design and implementation. More real-world examples serve as engaging, practical illustrations of database concepts. The Fifth Edition maintains its coverage of the most popular database topics, including SQL, security, data mining, and contains a new chapter on web script programming for databases.

From the Back Cover

Fundamentals of DATABASE SYSTEMS, Fifth Edition

 

Ramez Elmasri, University of Texas at Arlington

Shamkant B. Navathe, Georgia Institute of Technology

 

ISBN 0-321-36957-2

 

“Fundamentals of Database Systems is a leading example of a database text that approaches the subject from the technical, rather than the business perspective. It offers instructors more than enough material to choose from as they seek to balance coverage of theoretical with practical material, design with programming, application concerns with implementation issues, and items of historical interest with a view of cutting edge topics.”

–Henry A. Etlinger, Rochester Institute of Technology

 

“This is an outstanding, up-to-date database book, appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate courses. It contains good examples, and clearly describes how to design good, operable databases as well as retrieve and manipulate data from an existing database.”

–Peter Ng, The University of Texas - Pan American

 

With clear explanations of theory and design, broad coverage of models and real systems, and an up-to-date introduction to modern database technologies, Elmasri and Navathe’s text continues to be the leading introduction to database systems. Current, practical examples keep readers engaged while new end-of-chapter exercises and a new lab manual provide hands-on experience building database applications with modern technologies like Oracle®, MySQL®, and SQLServer®.

 

This Fifth Edition stays fresh with coverage of the latest, most popular database topics, including:

• Mobile databases, GIS and Genome Databases under emerging applications
• Database Security
• A new chapter on Web script programming for databases using PHP

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1168 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 5 edition (March 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321369572
• ISBN-13: 978-0321369574
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #56,857 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fundamental, though not overly friendly, May 4, 2004

By	Andrew McCaffrey "The Grumpy Young Man" (Satellite of Love, Maryland) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fundamentals of Database Systems (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

I used FUNDAMENTALS OF DATABASE SYSTEMS (Third Edition) in a graduate class I took on databases, and I've kept referring to the book since then. As a student, I'll admit that it was tough to get through this book at times. It's dense and almost impenetrable, but it packs a huge amount of information and is amazingly comprehensive.

It puts theory well ahead of practical matters, which gives the novice a good foundation from which to really get a firm handle on how all these pieces fit together. The assumption is that the student knows nothing, even B-trees are devoted several pages of explanation. The student who does know nothing will doubtless find this wealth of data to be overwhelming at first (as I did). But stick at it. This textbook is not for people looking at how to simply plug things into Microsoft Access. It's for programmers seriously looking to gain a strong background in what the fundamental elements of database components and systems are.

The text starts off simply, merely explaining in general terms what databases are and who will use them. Then we quickly move into modeling how relational databases work. Data Modeling and Entity-Relationship Models are described in-depth, and the book comes back to ER modeling and mapping repeatedly. Object Models are covered, as well as the best ways of sorting records and the best way to index tables. The authors offer a wealth of information concerning the SQL language -- so much so, that there's much that I simply haven't used since reading about it, although I'm sure that more advanced database programmers in the audience will find it very enlightening.

It continues on with Object-Oriented Database technologies, functional dependencies, and normal forms (first, second, third and Boyce-Codd normal form). Higher system views of database architecture are also discussed, giving us an understanding of how different parts are working together. Optimization, recovery, maintenance and security are naturally touched on, as are distributed databases and the basic client/server architecture relationship. As you can see, this is all very theoretical, although some real-life explanations and examples are brought in. But it is by building up a solid knowledge base that will allow the reader to truly understand systems when encountered in the classroom or in the workplace.

I've only touched on a handful of things that the book details in its 1000+ pages. It's packed with mathematical formulas, computer science algorithms, schema design, and the minutua of every database operation. Its approach doesn't make things easy, but it does contain everything you'd want to know about a given item. I had to read various sections multiple times for my coursework, obviously, but every time I studied a passage, I would uncover details and concepts that I had missed the last time. Even now as reference material, I always find myself learning (or relearning) something when consulting this book.

Although in my current job I don't require a massive amount of database knowledge, I still find this an extremely useful reference guide. To be perfectly honest, I don't know if I would find this text helpful if I hadn't taken a course that taught from it. It's certainly intimidating to a beginner. But if you're a moderate to intermediate database programmer, you'll find this an invaluable guide to filling in the gaps in your knowledge. It may be a bit too dense and scary to serve as your only teacher, but you'll probably find it an important one.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just the right amount of theory, December 4, 1999

By	RJ ([e-mail]) (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Database Systems (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

This book has just the right mix of database theory and its practical applications. I've studied other books of the ilk and found that this book has a leg up on them in that it doesn't get too hung up on providing proofs for concepts that are either very intuitive or just not worth going into too detailed a proof for. It also provides a good review of "modern" database techniques like Object Oriented database, deductive databases, etc.

The book could use a little more polish in terms of grammatical correctness. Besides, in my opinion, some concepts, as explained in the book, are just plain wrong. There is no way for one to contact the authors for clarification either.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Emphasizes database theory over practice., November 10, 1999

By	Chuck Eby ([e-mail]) (Falls Church, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Database Systems (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a "How to" cookbook for a particular database or application, this is probably the wrong book for you. However, if you are looking for a in-depth discussion of the history and theory of database management systems, it would be hard to find a better book. The book would probably be best accompanying a college course on database theory, or for someone who wants to understand the theory overlying all DBMS systems. It is short on examples of specific applications, but does have valuable discussion of both Oracle 8 and Access 97.

Another nice feature of this book is that it has been recently updated and has much new information about object database theory. I have been studying this book with others, and we have joked about the copyright date of 2000 - hey we're reading next year's book!