Access Database Design & Programming (3rd Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)In Access Database Design & Programming, the author uses very mathematical and academic language. The database design part of the book is focused on the mathematical theory of relational databases. The programming part of the book is a reference work to programming with VBA.
All parts of the relational database in Access will be mathematically defined and proven. It will have a name you most probably will find confusing, and far from what you are used to from the Access interface. Apparently the author follows the naming standards established in the academic world to prove the algebra. After all, he is a professor of Mathematics !
In the programming part of the book you will be introduced to the DDL, DML and DCL components included in Access. Also, these components will probably be completely unknown to you, if you have no previous programming experience. Further, the book makes use of DAO as opposed to ADO.
The book is perfect for someone, who has completed courses in Computer Science, Programming and Algebra, or with the equivalent knowledge and a mathematical/academic way of thinking. They will be able to read through the book in a fast pace, and immediately make use of Access at a high level.
If your background is different, I would recommend another approach to database design and programming. For database design, I recommend "Inside Relational Databases" by Whitehorn and Marklyn (ISBN 354076092X). To learn programming I recommend "Learn to Program with VB 6" by John Smiley (ISBN1902745000).
This book is going to split its readers in two groups: The mathematically and academic minded who will love the book for its concise language. And the "grass roots" among the Access users/developers, who will be looking for database samples or VBA code snippets to learn from, and find none.
You will probably ask yourself if you need to know this much theory and detail. But remember, a relational database operates purely on mathematics. It is difficult and tiresome to learn, but your reward will be well worth the effort.

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Access Database Design & Programming takes you behind the details of the Access interface, focusing on thegeneral knowledge necessary for Access power users or developers to create effective database applications. When using software products with graphical interfaces, we frequently focus so much on the interface that we forgetabout the general concepts that allow us to understand and use the software effectively. In particular, this bookfocuses on three areas:
Database design. The book provides an enjoyable, informative overview of database design thatcarefully shows you how to normalize tables to eliminate redundancy without losing data. Queries. The book examines multi-table queries (i.e.,various types of joins) and shows how toimplement them indirectly by using the Access interface or directly by using Access SQL. Programming. The book examines the VBA integrated development environment (IDE). It then goes onto provide an excellent introduction to Data Access Objects (DAO), ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), and ADO Extensions for Data Definition and Security (ADOX). These sections serve as a handy introduction and primer for basicdatabase operations,such as modifying a table under program control, dynamically adding and deleting a record,and repositioning a record pointer. The concluding chapter focuses on common programming problems, such ascomputing running sums and comparing two sets.
Unlike other Access books that take the long, detailed approach to every topic of concern to Access programmers,Access Database Design &Programming instead focuses on the core concepts, enabling programmers to developsolid, effective database applications. This book also serves as a 'second course' in Access that provides arelatively experienced Access user who is new to programming with the frequently overlooked techniques necessaryto develop successfully in the Microsoft Access environment.
Anyone interested in learning Access in depth, rather than just scraping the surface, will enjoy and benefitimmensely from reading this book.

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