Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a technical person but have very little DB experience and purchased the book because I had to for a college class. I feel the book was simply OK. Some points were made well others I had to read several times. Over all the explanations were not as concise as I would like but in all fairness DB concepts are hard to explain. The overall layout was good however I think there should have been more attention during the intro to familiarize the reader with DB's and the related concepts before delving in to the details of each phase of DB creation.
My only real gripe is that a new revision is published every year and the previous version of the $100 + dollar book becomes worthless. To save money I bought the previous version and found all the material I needed. However for the final exam the instructor of the online class gave us page numbers to use as reference so I was forced to buy the latest version which was the same book with a few new references...
If you are buying this book for reference or if you are buying this because you are taking a face to face class I recommend that you buy the previous version required by the instructor at a greatly reduced cost. You may be able to do this w/ an online class if the professor (or classmates) are flexible and willing to help reconcile the different page numbers.


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Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management, Eighth Edition, a market-leader for database texts, gives readers a solid foundation in practical database design and implementation. The book provides in-depth coverage of database design, demonstrating that the key to successful database implementation is in proper design of databases to fit within a larger strategic view of the data environment. Updates for the eighth edition include additional Unified Modeling Language coverage, expanded coverage of SQL Server functions, all-new business intelligence coverage, and added coverage of data security. With a strong hands-on component that includes real-world examples and exercises, this book will help students develop database design skills that have valuable and meaningful application in the real world.

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Database Modeling and Design: Logical Design, 4th Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) Review

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(More customer reviews)I also am a reviewer of the book and an interested colleague. I've used this book since its first edition as my main reference on basic data modeling, and I have been happy to comment on its newer editions. This 4th edition improves on earlier ones by including the Unified Modeling Language (UML), my own first choice for a design language for data modeling. The chapter on the UML includes everything you need, but it keeps it as simple and straightforward as possible, making the material very accessible. The real contribution of the book is in the normalization chapter and in the excellent description and examples of n-ary relationships and the consequences of their multiplicities, a very-hard-to-understand corner of the data modeling world. The inclusion in this edition of material on OLAP and data warehousing is also welcome, though very limited in scope. Finally, moving the physical design material into a separate book makes this book much more cohesive and useful as a reference for data modeling.

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Information Modeling and Relational Databases, Second Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) Review

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(More customer reviews)Everyone needs this book. Read more to find out why:
If you intend to create genuinely useful business applications without first creating an accurate conceptual data model and deriving the database schema from the model, then I hope your projects have very large budgets and flexible deadlines, because you'll need both. Accurate conceptual data models are not an academic curiousity, they are a practical necessity. Well designed databases are the heart of every business application, and accurate conceptual data models are the foundation of every well designed database.
This book presents a method for data modeling called Object Role Modeling (ORM). If you've never created a data model before, you might as well learn the best method from the start. If you've used E-R (Entity Relationship) modeling before, this is your chance to learn a method that overcomes the limitations of E-R, while building on the knowledge you already have.
ORM is based on facts (assertions about the business sphere you are modeling), not entities and attributes. Business users understand facts much better than they understand data modeling abstractions. By using ORM facts, you create your data model in a language that business users can understand and validate. Poor communication with business users and inadequate understanding of requirements are major causes of design deficiencies. ORM solves these issues through its fact based approach.
ORM is also much more expressive than any other popular data modeling notation, ncluding UML and all major flavors of E-R. Many business rules should be expressed as data constraints, but traditional data modeling languages don't do well at capturing these constraints. By capturing the constraints in an ORM model and validating with the users, you make the construction of a good application much easier.
Halpin is an excellent writer, and this book is very easy to read. The many examples and crisp writing style mean that you'll actually understand what the author intends, a refreshing change from most computer books. If you've read the previous edition of this book, this update is very worthwhile. There is a lot of expanded and new material, and you'll be happy you purchased the new edition.

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Information Modeling and Relational Databases, second edition, provides an introduction to ORM (Object-Role Modeling)and much more. In fact, it is the only book to go beyond introductory coverage and provide all of the in-depth instruction you need to transform knowledge from domain experts into a sound database design. This book is intended for anyone with a stake in the accuracy and efficacy of databases: systems analysts, information modelers, database designers and administrators, and programmers. Terry Halpin, a pioneer in the development of ORM, blends conceptual information with practical instruction that will let you begin using ORM effectively as soon as possible. Supported by examples, exercises, and useful background information, his step-by-step approach teaches you to develop a natural-language-based ORM model, and then, where needed, abstract ER and UML models from it. This book will quickly make you proficient in the modeling technique that is proving vital to the development of accurate and efficient databases that best meet real business objectives. *Presents the most indepth coverage of Object-Role Modeling available anywhere, including a thorough update of the book for ORM2, as well as UML2 and E-R (Entity-Relationship) modeling. *Includes clear coverage of relational database concepts, and the latest developments in SQL and XML, including a new chapter on the impact of XML on information modeling, exchange and transformation. * New and improved case studies and exercises are provided for many topics. * The book's associated web site provides answers to exercises, appendices, advanced SQL queries, and links to downloadable ORM tools.

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