Database Design for Smarties: Using UML for Data Modeling (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Databases, like every kind of software object, go through a life stressed with change..." (more)
Key Phrases: composite aggregation association, nullable date, consulting private detective, Rational Software, Identify Criminal, Informix Dynamic Server (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you want to see how your next database project can profit from object-oriented design, check out Database Design for Smarties, a lively and intelligent guide to using objects in databases.

The book begins with a tour of some underlying factors in modeling databases. Here, the author distinguishes between the external, conceptual, and internal models of database design.) Then it's on to data architectures, be they the traditional relational or the newer object-relational and object-oriented (OO) database types.

After discussing some of the pitfalls of gathering and implementing user requirements, the author looks at UML notation for use case diagrams. (His example here, a crime database for tracking Sherlock Holmes's stories, along with criminals and clues, is both intelligent and entertaining.)

The author's guide to UML class design is topnotch. He covers basic and advanced OO concepts such as inheritance, aggregation, composition, and polymorphism with clear and concise explanations. He also shows you how to model business rules using objects and UML class diagrams. The most valuable part of this book comes with the mapping of UML class diagrams onto three different kinds of databases: relational (on Oracle7), object-relational (on Oracle8), and object-oriented (on the POET platform). The author shows how to emulate object-oriented ideas successfully using stored procedures and triggers, even if you are not running on a "true" object-oriented platform.

Exceptionally well-written and clear, Database Design for Smarties offers consistently invaluable advice on how to take advantage of objects to create simpler and more maintainable database designs. --Richard Dragan

Product Description

Whether building a relational, object-relational, or object-oriented database, database developers are increasingly relying on an object-oriented design approach as the best way to meet user needs and performance criteria. This book teaches you how to use the Unified Modeling Language-the official standard of the Object Management Group-to develop and implement the best possible design for your database.

Inside, the author leads you step by step through the design process, from requirements analysis to schema generation. You'll learn to express stakeholder needs in UML use cases and actor diagrams, to translate UML entities into database components, and to transform the resulting design into relational, object-relational, and object-oriented schemas for all major DBMS products.

* Teaches you everything you need to know to design, build, and test databases using an OO model.
* Shows you how to use UML, the accepted standard for database design according to OO principles.
* Explains how to transform your design into a conceptual schema for relational, object-relational, and object-oriented DBMSs.
* Offers practical examples of design for Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, Informix, Object Design, POET, and other database management systems.
* Focuses heavily on re-using design patterns for maximum productivity and teaches you how to certify completed designs for re-use.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 1st edition (March 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558605150
• ISBN-13: 978-1558605152
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #912,628 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captures what I've been doing & trying to teach, November 23, 1999

By	Eric Adams (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

Database Modeling for Smarties is exactly that. This book captures the techniques that I have been using for a number of years but have not been able to capture concisely. I found the discussion of object-relational mapping very useful and would love to send copies to the database designers that I work with. The reading is easy and the only negative would be that the chapter on development team values & characteristics seems to be misplaced. However the chapter was good reading as an intermission in the middle of the book.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good introduction and high practical use, August 16, 2000

By	Johannes Lutz (Berlin Deutschland) - See all my reviews

I would recommend this book. I have experience with database design (ORACLE) but object oriented design was more a mystery for me. Mr. Muller showed me that there is only a little step from entity-relationship modelling to modelling with UML. UML design also solves a lot of database design problems like reaching a 3rd (or higher) normal form. Another plus of this book is his in depth tutorial to apply the technics of UML to a relational database, to a object-relational and a object oriented database. Examples are for oracle databases and POET ODL for an object oriented database.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent adaptation of the UML to database modelling, November 5, 1999

By	Baboon (Dakar, Senegal) - See all my reviews

Mr. Muller provides a succinct explanation of the UML and how it applies to database models and the realities of the major DBMS on the market. He doesn't mince words, each line and paragraph are thought provoking and insightful. Choose a quiet place to read and dive in!