Designing Effective Database Systems (Addison-Wesley Microsoft Technology Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book gives you a points-to-points look-in on various core aspects ie: component parts & pieces, which earmark & characterizes the design of an effective database system
i'd say, this is a good (first,introductory db design book). it will endow you with the vision or skills to look at/objectively qualify ,the items you need to take into consideration all along the way to designing an effective database system from the beginning of the db design lifecycle to its watershed
This book is...
- Is a good, first birds-eye view of core aspects of the database design terrain from 5,000 feet.
- It's like circling at a high altitude of the database terrain first, whilst still practically clearly seeing the individual trees from the forest.
Its a 319 page read . the detail level is just about right to serve as a quick review of items to consider.
If its sorta your first dip into data & database design , its a good place to start but i'd recommend you take this book, couple it & digest it together with a read of :"Database Design" by Sams; ISBN:0672317583 -(a terrific book!) subsequently after ;
and you'll have a really good,full 20:20 vision of the database system design domain/aspect.
digesting these together gives you a brilliant foundation.
Value: The second book(ie: the Sams book), will patch-up on areas like relationships & give you more meat on all the core checklist of items to objectively consider straight away, if say tomorrow you found yourself commencing with/starting a db design effort. it's a better cookbook.
Riordan's book then would seem a very nice starter/introduction
At this new knowledge point/vantage, you are now equipped with a greater, squarer view of the terrain at some 7,000 feet. ie: at this point, if you were interested in doing the sql-server design exam: 70-229, or the Oracle fundamentals I equivalent: 1Z0-031, everything would make so much more sense re: triggers, sprocs, functions, cursors, Business rules + Constraints, RAID Backup , Indexing, Views, the SQL angle etc. if you pick up an ExamCram2 book + Transcender, Testking or whatever you select as your exam study guide of preference, you'll be able to finally see & understand how things -(aspects of the puzzle), actually all fit together and be able to translate almost effortlessly from conceptual design aspects to the necessary logical design-blueprint , to the physical implementation aspects.
And that which you understand... you won't forget
After digesting the Riordan book followed by the Sams book, you are now ready for intermediate to proficient level. 10,000 to 12,000 feet - design proficiency.
as a 3rd level book , i'd recommend you move on to reading the following 4 (ordered here by: most-entailed to least-entailed):
(1.) Database Modelling Essentials; ISBN:0126445516 ;
Value:(brings you a solid handle on building a database model to support a businesses activities)
(2.) Database Solutions; ISBN:0321173503 ;
Value: (clarity in cruising comfortably between d relational model and a good, solid, logical design...[a great book])
(3.) Database Design for Mere Mortals; ISBN: 0201752840 ;
Value: (great for reviewing Table Relationships -(setting-up joins) and reading the ERD -[Entity Relationship Diagrams])
AND
(4.) Databases Demystified; ISBN:0072253649 ;
Value: (great for stepping you linearly through the database lifecycle again, with good explanations about what you should be sure you are doing & obtaining from each stage/step of the lifecycle)..ie: that which will be expected of you at each step/stage chunk
To cap things up, Read :
- "Beginning Relational database design" ; ISBN:1590594630 ;
Value: (pulls all your data modelling personal resource skills together and reconstitutes them for you by casting you in a role where you practice modelling a complete system from scratch ie: -[from gathering the requirements specification, to the end of the detailed conceptual database design effort for the system]);
And you'll have all the core skills you need to build/design one mean database, enterprise-oriented or otherwise or reverse-engineer one.
if you are already in the thick of a project and are really pressed to find a db design solution -[(logical) + (implementation in SQL code)] right now, maybe consider buying or looking into purchasing the pricey: "Data Model Resource CD_ROM" ;ISBN:0471388289;
Value: it boasts a library of proven: tried and tested Universal Data Models, for all Enterprise types.
So, all you'll need do is adapt or borrow a design solution/model or architecture that applies closely to what you're trying to accomplish modelling for your database project ,and adapt & implement it as a solution for the database system you are designing. it's Magic!
Though i rated d Riordan book 4 stars for the depth of its content matter, the book rates more like a 4.5 for sheer readability & clarity of explanations for such an often notoriously complex technical subject area.
I'd talk about core books that translate to laying-out a solid physical database implementation & tuning for performance, but thats gonna have to wait till maybe a future book review
cheers.
-------

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"Riordan covers core skills for any developer--database design and development--in a perfect amount of detail. This book should be on every professional developer's reading list."--Duncan Mackenzie, developer, Microsoft (MSDN)"Designing a database is not a trivial subject. Riordan brings experience and clear explanations to a fundamental part of software development."--Patrick Birch, database and technical writing consultant"If you buy only one book on database design, make it this one. Riordan has a talent for explaining technical issues in simple language, without over simplifying."--Brendan Reynolds, developer, Dataset IT Systems and Microsoft Access MVP"A book that will expertly guide you in how to develop a database for a client-- and how to do it right the first time!"--Kenneth D. Snell, Ph.D., ACCESS developer and Microsoft Access MVP "Riordan has produced a unique book that brings together a formal, yet commonsense, approach to relational database design...and then goes further! Many database designers will find immense value in the steps to developing practical data warehouse designs.If you are seeking a framework for designing transactional databases, or want to step out into the world of analytical databases, Riordan's book excels at bridging both worlds."--Paul Irvine, vice president, engineering, Via Training"Riordan takes a complex subject and makes it easy. If you're over your head on a database design project, this book will help bail you out!"--Mike Gunderloy, contributing editor, Application Development Trends"This book covers a wide range of database design and data modeling topics in a well-organized, easy to understand format."--Amy Sticksel, Sticksel Data Systems, Inc."In Designing Effective Database Systems, Riordan's style, wit, and attention to detail are outstanding."--Sandra Daigle, Microsoft Access MVP The Software Developer's Step-by-Step Guide to Database Design World-renowned expert Rebecca M. Riordan has written the definitive database design book for working developers who aren't database experts. No matter how messy or complex your data challenge, Designing Effective Database Systems shows you how to design an effective, high-performance database to solve it.Riordan begins by thoroughly demystifying the principles of relational design, making them accessible to every professional developer.Next, she offers the field's clearest introduction to dimensional database modeling--practical insight for designing today's increasingly important analytical applications. One task at a time, the author illuminates every facet of database analysis and design for both traditional databases and the dimensional databases used for data warehousing, showing how to avoid common architectural pitfalls that complicate development and reduce extensibility. The book concludes with comprehensive, expert guidance on designing databases for maximum usability.This book will teach you to *Understand relational database models, structures, relationships, and data integrity principles *Define database system goals, criteria, scope, and work processes *Construct accurate conceptual models: relationships, entities, domain analysis, and normalization *Build efficient, secure database schema *Master the elements of online analytical processing (OLAP) design: fact tables, dimension tables, snowflaking, and more *Architect and construct easy, efficient interfaces for querying and reporting *Learn from practice examples based on Microsoft's Northwind sample databaseRiordan has helped thousands of professionals master database design and development, earning Microsoft's coveted MVP honor for her exceptional contributions.Nobody is more qualified to help you master database design and apply it in your real-world environment.

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UML 2.0 in Action: A project-based tutorial: A detailed and practical walk-through showing how to apply UML to real world development projects Review

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(More customer reviews)First of all, why learning UML? Mainly because the Unified Modeling Language is maybe the best-known standardized graphical notation you can use to create an abstract model of a system. With complex systems, you can not rely on ad-hoc graphical representations.
Then, how to choose a good and practical book for learning UML 2.0? This is a tough task, as major publishers have lots of books on UML, some of them extremely complex and pricey.
Given that I was only able to understand very basic concepts of UML diagrams, I always wanted to truly learn UML, but had no time, nor the obligation to do it. That's a pity, as I often find myself in lack of a standardized way to express the relationships that govern a particular process.
A book has therefore to be chosen by its practical aspect, not the comprehensiveness. It's better to be able to learn "just enough UML" to get a different perspective and to get your job done, than to be discouraged by a thick bible you don't even dare to open!
My candidates included:
-- "UML 2 and the Unified Process : Practical Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (2nd Edition)" from Addison-Wesley, which has good references both as a practical book and as a reference book. I however find it unappropriate that it insisted on using commercial UML tools from Rational Rose, MagicDraw and Interactive Objects. I don't want them, I just want the UML course!
-- Many Amazon.com visitors decided to buy the "UML Bible" instead. No kidding, why should I opt for a "clear and accessible... err... 940-page book?!"
-- A much more tempting choice is Kendall Scott's "Fast Track UML 2.0". The author has great references, the book itself is supposed to only capture the essential information from the complexity of UML 2.0 (and it's cheap too!), but Amazon.com's visitors insist on the proofreading errors in the book, even if they seem to have been addressed by the author, at least in part. I stayed in doubt though... even if I have previously bought from Apress and their books are good.
I can't remember now exactly how, but the next thing that came in my browser was "UML 2.0 in Action: A project-based tutorial", from Packt Publishing -- I've written about them two weeks ago on my blog.
This book is a translation of the German original 3rd edition of "UML 2.0 projektorientiert", from Galileo Computing.
To clarify a situation with Galileo's book's page on Amazon.de: the criticism over some errors are referring to the first edition -- things are now corrected. Packt's translation follows the latest available German edition.
We could take a look on what Amazon.com's readers have to say about the book from Packt. The only review to date comes from a Top 500 reviewer, who notes:
-- "UML can be a rather daunting subject if you try and look at the entire thing at once. But if you can distill down the items that are used most often, it becomes much more manageable. That's the goal of Packt Publishing's book UML 2.0 In Action - A Project Based Tutorial."
-- "UML 2.0 In Action will have you understand much more (and much more quickly) than you might otherwise figure out..."
What I've got with my purchase? A book, what else. This is not the cheapest book ever seen for its 229 pages (the German edition has 288 pages because of a slightly different layout). The only drawback compared to the German book is that the English one is paperback instead of hardcover and lacks the color A2-sized poster with diagrams and models. But this is easy to explain due to the printing process (see below).
The free shipping took seven days sharp from Birmingham (UK) to Brasov (Romania), and the Royal Mail stamp was labeled GBP3.39 (about US$6).
The cover is attractive and optimistic (orange, lime green and black make a perfect combination). The printing is somewhat less-than-perfect, and an educated eye would say the pages are printed on a laser printer... which they actually are! The printing house is Lightning Source, the world leader in Printing On Demand -- and that makes it all clear. To be able to print and ship from 3 different locations, traditional printing may be costly. Contrary to the first guess, printing on demand a book like this one (248 physical pages plus the covers) should only cost something like $6 in quantities of 500. About 50% of the price you paid is to be split between operational costs of the publisher, marketing, royalties, and the profit.
What I liked with this book in the first place? I mostly loved that it doesn't claim that "UML is a diagramming language meant to describe and document object-oriented software systems."
As I personally believe that UML is not only for IT projects, but also for any business process, this book gives me full satisfaction by saying: ?UML can be used to model a variety of systems: software systems, business systems, or any other system.?
To prove it, the book purposely limits its scope to the most useful and used parts of the UML, without claiming the completeness. The examples are deliberately took from the real life and are not treating the development of a software application, as you might be expecting! They do however address the modeling of IT systems (Chapter 4) and system integration (Chapter 5).
If you're taking for simple a business system consisting in an airport, with passengers, passenger services, all the possible situations, interactions, and involved information, well... think again! The describing of the functioning and organization of the "UML Airport" is the pretext of the whole book and it's quite an inspired choice: you can not claim you couldn't understand something because of "insufficient programming experience" -- no programming experience is required!
Three models are actually described and analyzed in the book:
-- the model of the business system (passengers, employees, business processes);
-- the model of the IT system dealing with the passenger services business system;
-- the model of the system integration of all these into the environment, including the connections with the external world.
As the book is fortunately good enough to be understood by business analysts, not only by software analysts, the class is defined at page 133 (Chapter 4, the IT systems) as ?a relevant concept from the domain, a set of persons, objects, or ideas that are depicted in the IT system?.
At the business system level, the Class Diagrams introduced at page 87 only rely on definitions from pp. 82-83:
-- the class "Worker", a stereotype ?used to describe the roles of those people who execute business processes or who are involved in execution of business processes?;
-- the class "Business Object", indirectly defined as being ?handled (utilized, controlled, manipulated, produced, etc.) by workers?.
I will not tell you the whole story, as I already have in my mind's eyes plenty of airplanes and check-in employees :-), I will only note that the book uses a very American/International English language and spelling, rather than a British one (it even writes "etc." without the ending point, as in the Merriam-Webster: "etc").
A typical software-oriented scholastic UML course would probably introduce at least 9 of the 13 types of UML diagrams , focusing on the "mandatory" 6 ones (marked with (?)), in this order:
-- Use Case Diagrams (?)
-- Class Diagrams (?)
-- Sequence Diagrams (?)
-- Communication Diagrams (?) (formerly Collaboration Diagrams)
-- State Diagrams (?)
-- Activity Diagrams (?)
-- Component Diagrams
-- Deployment Diagrams
-- Object Diagrams
Since the book describes an easier to understand busines process, it introduces concepts in this sequence:
-- Use Case Diagrams (?)
-- Activity Diagrams (?)
-- Sequence Diagrams (?)
-- Package Diagrams
-- Class Diagrams (?)
-- Use Case Sequence Diagrams -- a special type of (mixed) Sequence Diagrams advocated by the book!
-- Statechart Diagrams (a.k.a. State Machine Diagrams)
-- Communication Diagrams (?)
Quite logical, if you read the book -- even a little too advanced, as many simple processes can be described avoiding package diagrams. And definitely originalin my eyes as I didn't knew about the "Use Case Sequence Diagrams!"
System Integration (Chapter 5) requires some more terminology. It's time to find out that the 'events' you were using, together with the associated 'reference data', are nothing else but 'messages'. Or even 'documents' if they're XML-fied. (The book will not get too technical, don't worry.)
Overall, a pleasant and instructive experience, still awaiting for my time to explore, analyze and understand all the diagrams and the concepts. As many people consider UML to be too bloated, too fine-grained in many aspects, this book shows how you can only use what you really need of UML 2.0.
A 4.7 stars book, if that level of granularity was possible.

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If you've read the UML documentation or a guide to the UML syntax, but don't feel you really know where to start with UML on a live project, then this unique book is what you need. Written as a practical case study, the book sets out to give you the intuitive feel for UML you need to confidently add it to your core development toolkit. The authors walk through a rich analysis and design scenario, explaining which parts of UML to use, and how to use them. The emphasis is on the systematic and practical application of UML to real business cases. The book was written for business analysts, technical architects and developers. It does not require detailed programming knowledge, nor is prior experience of UML mandatory. It shows how, with UML, simple models of business processes and specification models can be created and read with little effort.

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Core Data: Apple's API for Persisting Data on Mac OS X Review

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(More customer reviews)Word of warning: not one of the 5-star reviewers actually worked through examples in this book then reviewed it.
It's not a 5-star book. It's a 5-star topic, and sadly (very very sadly) it's the only book I know of actually on that topic.
I think the author's intentions are good, and there's a lot of useful info. I'm grateful to have it.
But all of that has to be balanced against the maddening b.s. of trying to actually follow his examples. You know, to actually do what you're supposed to do with a programming book.
Up to chapter 5, it's a pretty good book. If you download the code from the publisher's web site, you'll discover that he names some of his objects differently than you would if you follow his instructions strictly. This actually will create problems for you potentially when you try and troubleshoot problems in your own code, but they're minor. Annoying and needless, but minor.
Then you get to chapter 5, and it's really not so minor anymore. Grab the book (print version or PDF) and work through the examples in chapter 5, and you will have a broken program. Don't take my word for it. Check out the forums and the errata page on their website, and you'll see others reporting the same problem. There is a complicated data migration described. After walking us through a fairly trivial example, he then goes on to give us a much more complicated version. He leaves large portions of that to the reader, and just goes instead for code. The problem is that he doesn't even give us some of the most important code. He shows us a very important ObjC method to add to the AppDelegate... but never even mentions the major alterations you need to make in another method to make that new one get called.
Perhaps it's unreasonable to expect programming book editors to actually go through the examples to see if it works. Perhaps it's unreasonable to expect all books to be as well-done as Hillegass' book.
What's sad is that I've been waiting for this kind of book ever since Core Data came out. And there are some very nice ideas here. I'm gonna slog through the rest and hope it gets better, because the topic is really important. If you plan to buy this book and really work through the examples, I think I'd still recommend it (since there's nothing else). But word to the wise: it's gonna require a LOT more work than a properly written and edited programming book would have.

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Whether you are targeting Mac OS X or the iPhone, at some point your Cocoa application is probably going to need to persist data. You could struggle with SQLite, generate XML, or create your own binary format. Or, you can save time and energy by taking advantage of Apple's Core Data API instead.Core Data makes it easy for you to work with object graphs and to persist data-but there are plenty of pitfalls and issues to watch out for. This book shows you everything from versioning to integrating with Quick Look, Sync Services, and Spotlight. You'll see how to boost performance and work in multithreaded applications. You'll work with Core Data on both the desktop and the iPhone. By the end of Core Data, you'll have built a full-featured application, gained a complete understanding of Core Data, and learned how to integrate your application into OS X. As an extra bonus, you'll see numerous recipes that are useful in unusual situations, or even in places where you wouldn't have thought to use the Core Data API before. It will become another indispensable tool in your kit.

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Modern Software Development Using Java Review

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(More customer reviews)The authors make a good choice of java, as the teaching language of this book. It conveys to students the main aspects of being a professional programmer. These days, that usually involves object oriented programming. And java was explicitly designed from scratch to be fully OO, unlike C++.
Also, much current programming involves making a GUI. Well in java, this is quite simple, as shown by various chapters. The reader quickly gets up to speed in coding simple graphics, with numerous types of widgets. Also, the use of widgets and graphics coding is inherently OO. So this reinforces the book's teachings about OO. To a new student [new to any programming], OO principles can seem rather abstract. Coding widgets helps solidify the principles.

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Now updated for the latest release of Java, the Second Edition of Modern Software Development Using Java continues to blaze a new path for today's CS2 students. Tymann and Schneider's contemporary approach focuses on what students need to learn in the CS2 course in order to appreciate what is truly important today in the areas of software design and development. This text covers such current software development ideas as object-oriented design, UML, data structure libraries, net-centric programming, threads, and GUIs, all presented in a way that is fully accessible and motivating. The new edition has been fully revised to take advantage of the new features in Java 5.0, and all material is Java 6.0 compliant.

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Designing Concurrent, Distributed, and Real-Time Applications with UML Review

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(More customer reviews)This book provides a practical method to apply the Unified Modeling Language (UML) to design concurrent and distributed software for large systems. While many books have been published to explain the details of the UML notation, this book provides a method, COMET, to approach software design through application of a practical subset of the UML notation. The book contains numerous, extensive case studies and provides pragmatic, useful guidelines to identify distributed subsystems and concurrent tasks from a UML analysis model. The approach described represents a unique and valualbe contribution by the author of this text. Finally, because this book is intended mainly as a text for software design courses, I consulted with a few students who have used this book in a graduate-level software engineering course. All of the students were favorably impressed with the content, clarity, practicality, and detail contained in the book.
Prior to the publication of this text, a software design course based on UML could only be taught using a UML text together with a separate software design text. In this text book, Dr. Gomaa has integrated material from UML and software design in such a form that a software design course can now be taught with this text alone.

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In this book, renowned real-time software expert Hassan Gomaa adapts UML to the unique needs of the concurrent, distributed, and real-time applications -- helping developers leverage the powerful flexibility, reliability, and time-to-market benefits associated with UML. Gomaa starts by reviewing the key issues and concepts associated with analysis and design of distributed and real-time applications -- focusing not only on standard object-oriented concepts such as information hiding, classes, and inheritance, but also specialized issues such as finite state machines, concurrent tasks, and real-time scheduling. Next, he introduces the COMET (Concurrent Object Modeling and Architectural Design) Method, a UML-based object-oriented analysis and design method specifically created for concurrent, distributed, and real-time applications. The book presents detailed structuring criteria that assist the designer at every stage of the analysis and design process, and offers exceptional insight into dynamic modeling, concurrency, distributed application design, and performance analysis of real-time designs.Gomaa concludes with several detailed case studies covering a broad range of applications, including systems for banking, e-Commerce, cruise control, factory automation, and more.

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Model-Driven Development with Executable UML (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Review

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(More customer reviews)Aimed at the professional information system developer, the author starts with the basic characteristics of information systems. From there he describes ways to create a model of the needed system and then discusses how to use this model to design the most effective system. This procedure is significantly faster than building a system and then doing a series of revisions to make the system produce the information that management needs to make the best decision.
From a programming standpoint the author discusses the Unified Modeling Language (UML). UML is now about 15 years old and has begun to stabilize around some common ideas and concepts. Executable UML, is much newer (adopted in June 2008). The author has many years of experience in software modelling and has contributed to the theory and practice of model-driven development and UML. In spite of being very technically oriented, Mr. Milicev's writing style is rather open and understandable. Compared with many programming books, this one has a very good opening segment that clearly makes it possible for the reader to understand where he is trying to go.

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A comprehensive reference for an executable UML and the advantages of modeling This book presents the most up-to-date technology for rapidly developing information systems using the object-oriented paradigm and models, and establishes an executable profile of UML for such model-driven development. As a software developer, architect, or analyst, you'll benefit from learning how information systems can be developed more efficiently using the object-oriented paradigm and model-driven approach.
Written by an expert who is uniquely qualified in the topic, this Wrox reference offers a profile of UML that is formal and executable, instead of the relational paradigm or its incomplete coupling with object orientation. It provides a comprehensive tutorial on model-driven development and UML.
Provides an in-depth tutorial on using model-driven development and UML for building information systems, with extensive examples
Includes tutorials and critics of traditional IS modeling paradigms, such as the relational paradigm, entity-relationship modeling, and the widely used incomplete coupling of object orientation with relational databases
Covers basic object-oriented concepts with UML semantics, like classes and data types, attributes, associations, generalizations, operations and methods
Proposes new powerful concepts for rapid development of information systems including contemporary user interfaces, such as programming by demonstration and others

Model-Driven Development with Executable UML offers a thorough education in this complex topic.

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Developing Software with UML: Object-Oriented Analysis and Design in Practice (2nd Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)Surely this book is not the absolute reference for the UML. Someone seeking for such a book, should check up on: "The Unified Modeling Language User Guide", "The Unified Modeling Language Reference Manual" both by the 3 amigos, and "UML Distilled, Second Ed." by Martin Fowler et al.
I gave 5 stars because, to my opinion, the author has catched the main need of someone who uses the UML for the first time; to design/develop software. Formalizations and abstractions are absolutely necessary in real applications, but really destructing during the first steps simply because anything usefull is interspersed in several chapters. On the other hand, the coverage of both the UML and the OO S/W development in this book is definitely not shallow.
"Developing Software with UML" is perhaps the best choise for beginning with UML. It is well-structured, intuitive and easy.

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Practical guide to exploiting the power of Object Technology & UML in your software development process.

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Object-Oriented Discrete-Event Simulation with Java - A Practical Introduction (SERIES IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS (previously: The Plenum Series in Computer (Series in Computer Science) Review

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(More customer reviews)Some of the concepts were new to me and some were not. The old ideas were the ones that I came across in a first Java programming course or in a discrete-event simulation course. Book is easy to read, concise, not a textbook. Useful for someone that has not studied anything about discrete-event simulation.

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This book introduces the application of the Java programminglanguage in discrete-event simulation. In addition, the fundamentalconcepts and practical simulation techniques for modeling differenttypes of systems to study their general behavior and their performanceare introduced. The approaches applied are the process interactionapproach to discrete-event simulation and object-oriented modeling.Java is used as the implementation language and UML as the modelinglanguage. The first offers several advantages compared to C++, themost important being thread handling, graphical user interfaces (GUI),and Web computing. The second language, UML (Unified ModelingLanguage), is the standard notation used today for modeling systems asa collection of classes, class relationships, objects, and objectbehavior. The book concentrates on object-oriented modeling andimplementation aspects of simulation models using Java and practicalsimulation techniques. In addition, the book illustrates the dynamicbehavior of systems using the various simulation models as casestudies.

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Designing Virtual Reality Systems: The Structured Approach Review

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(More customer reviews)This text does not pertain to any new research in the field of virtual reality or virtual environments. Instead, it is meant to be a modern introduction (post VRML) to students new to VR on what building blocks are required to produce a virtual reality system. I review the book in the context of its table of contents:
Chapter 1 "Introduction: Virtual Reality in a Nutshell" is just a broad overview of the field and of this book. It discusses the goals and applications of VR, and also discusses what it considers to be the two pillars of VR: presence and 3D multimodal interaction.
Chapter 2 "Requirements Engineering and Storyboarding" discusses VR from the standpoint of a concrete example: a ship simulator design.
Chapter 3 "Object and Scene Modeling" discusses object modeling, scene construction, object placement, multiple frames of reference, re-expressing coordinate systems, and both functional and behavioral modeling. All of this is done from the standpoint of the ship simulator design that was introduced in chapter two. There is quite a bit about graphics concepts in this chapter.
Chapter 4 "Putting it All Together" pulls together the concepts from chapters 2 and 3 into a system design philosophy, again from the standpoint of the concrete example of the ship simulator design.
Chapter 5 "Performance Estimation and System Tuning" is somewhat mislabeled in my opinion. This chapter discusses some advanced graphics concepts such as tuning with level-of-detail models, presence and special effects, and use of images and texturing.
Chapter 6 "Output Display" is about human optical perception as well as available display hardware. First the human visual system is briefly discussed along with human depth perception and stereoscopy. Next visual display systems are discussed along with haptics - the science of applying touch sensation and control to interaction with computer applications.
Chapter 7 "Sensors and Input Processing" discusses trackers, event generators, and sensor errors and calibration.
Chapter 8 "3D Multimodal Interaction Design" is about fusing symbolic and statistical information from a set of 3D gesture, spoken language, and referential agents. In particular, a structured approach is presented, along with ideas on interfacing, and finally some case studies. Among the case studies are the previously mentioned ship simulator along with immersive authoring, tabletop computing, menu selection and invocation, and whole-body interaction.
Next, there are two short chapters on simulation.
Chapter 9 discusses the basics of collision detection, starting with collision detection of line segments, then moving on to collision among polygonal models, building a bounding volume, and finally collision among bounding volumes.
Chapter 10 introduces physics based motion and collision response. Among the topics mentioned are center of gravity, moment of inertia, linear and rotational kinematics, laws of motion, dynamics, collision response, and deformation. There are quite a few equations shown in this chapter, and although this is just meant as an introduction the material is quite useful.
Chapter 11 "Virtual Characters" is the final chapter and touches on a rather advanced subject. The form of such a character, motion control, and inverse and forward kinematics of such a character are discussed.
Although this is a short book - roughly 230 pages total - it is very useful in that it does not wander through its topics in an academic way, but takes a systems engineering and mathematical approach to building virtual worlds. The use of the ship simulator is very enlightening and binds the book together into a very cohesive and useful volume. The block diagrams and pseudocode are also very helpful. You are going to need other books to build a complete virtual world, but this is an outstanding modern outline of everything that you need to consider. I highly recommend this book as an introductory text to any student wishing to learn the practical issues behind building a virtual reality system.

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Developing and maintaining a VR system is a very difficult task, requiring in-depth knowledge in many disciplines. The difficulty lies in the complexity of having to simultaneously consider many system goals, some of which are conflicting.This book is organized so that it follows a spiral development process for each stage, describing the problem and possible solutions for each stage. Much more hands-on than other introductory books, concrete examples and practical solutions to the technical challenges in building a VR system are provided.Part 1 covers the very basics in building a VR systemand explains various technical issues in object modeling and scene organization. Part 2 deals with 3D multimodal interaction, designing for usable and natural interaction and creating realistic object simulation. Primarily written for first level graduates, advanced undergraduates and IT professionals will also find this a valuable guide.

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SQL Antipatterns: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Database Programming (Pragmatic Programmers) Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently got a new job and inherited a vast collection of SQL queries to maintain. Reading Karwin's book has been a tremendous help! Each chapter considers a particular design issue ("How can I store more than one value in a field?") and shows the most common, flawed method (the "antipattern"). He carefully explains the disadvantages, then usually shows several other ways to accomplish the same goal.
One of the things I like best about the book is that the analysis isn't black and white. Every methods has advantages and disadvantages, which Karwin carefully unpacks. He also reviews and clarifies relational theory as he goes: his discussion of "Null" is a masterpiece. In general, he favors solutions that don't subvert the basic principles of relational database theory.
This would not be a good book to try to learn SQL or Database theory from, but if you are just starting to get some real-world experience it is a Godsend. Highly Recommended.

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Each chapter in this book helps you identify, explain, and correct a unique and dangerous antipattern. The four parts of the book group the anti​patterns in terms of logical database design, physical database design, queries, and application development. The chances are good that your application's database layer already contains problems such as Index Shotgun, Keyless Entry, Fear of the Unknown, and Spaghetti Query. This book will help you and your team find them. Even better, it will also show you how to fix them, and how to avoid these and other problems in the future. SQL Antipatterns gives you a rare glimpse into an SQL expert's playbook. Now you can stamp out these common database errors once and for all. Whatever platform or programming language you use, whether you're a junior programmer or a Ph.D., SQL Antipatterns will show you how to design and build databases, how to write better database queries, and how to integrate SQL programming with your application like an expert. You'll also learn the best and most current technology for full-text search, how to design code that is resistant to SQL injection attacks, and other techniques for success.

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UML 2.0 in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) Review

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(More customer reviews)
This is the book that UML In a Nutshell should have been.
Several years ago I picked up the original UML In a Nutshell with high hopes; I didn't bother reading much of it in the bookstore because (after all) the book was an O'Reilly. It had an animal on the cover; quality was assured. I snapped it up and went home. It turned out to be the one of the worst computer books I'd ever bought, and many of the Amazon reviews agreed with me. I wrote my own scathing (but rather funny) review, and to be honest I don't know what happened to the book itself, I no longer cared.
A few weeks ago I received email from an editor at O'Reilly asking if I was the person who had posted that review, and would I be interested in a copy of their re-written book on UML 2.0? The book arrived a few days ago, and I've spent a couple hours going through it. (In the interest of disclosure, please note that I did not pay for my copy).
To put it mildly, UML 2.0 In a Nutshell is a vast improvement. I don't know how to emphasize this: It's like waking up from a bad nightmare of Throgzaks-are-after-you (and of course, you can't run) to realize that everything is okay and it was just the cat sleeping on your face. It is a huge relief that O'Reilly recognized their error and decided to fix it.
This book is smaller, more succinct and to the point. The authors dive into meaty subject material right away, starting with the stuff that most engineers are likely to use. The writing is pleasantly conversational, targetted to a technical (rather than a managerial) audience, and the subject matter is well organized. A challenge in grokking the UML is that it is a "wad" of interrelated concepts, and the book has sufficient forward references ("You'll learn more about X in chapter 4") that I felt comfortable just forging ahead. The diagrams are clear and meaningful, and there is (gasp) actual humor from time to time.
I get the impression that O'Reilly's first UML book was published in a hurry just to "get something out there." I have the impression that they took their time getting this one right. There is almost no comparison between the two; this is the book to get. Recommended.


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System developers have used modeling languages for decades to specify, visualize, construct, and document systems. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is one of those languages.UML makes it possible for team members to collaborate by providing a common language that applies to a multitude of different systems. Essentially, it enables you to communicate solutions in a consistent, tool-supported language.

Today, UML has become the standard method for modeling software systems, which means you're probably confronting this rich and expressive language more than ever before.And even though you may not write UML diagrams yourself, you'll still need to interpret diagrams written by others.

UML 2.0 in a Nutshell from O'Reilly feels your pain.It's been crafted for professionals like you who must read, create, and understand system artifacts expressed using UML.Furthermore, it's been fully revised to cover version 2.0 of the language.

This comprehensive new edition not only provides a quick-reference to all UML 2.0 diagram types, it also explains key concepts in a way that appeals to readers already familiar with UML or object-oriented programming concepts.

Topics include:

The role and value of UML in projects
The object-oriented paradigm and its relation to the UML
An integrated approach to UML diagrams
Class and Object, Use Case, Sequence, Collaboration, Statechart, Activity, Component, and Deployment Diagrams
Extension Mechanisms
The Object Constraint Language (OCL)
If you're new to UML, a tutorial with realistic examples has even been included to help you quickly familiarize yourself with the system.

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The Data Model Resource Book, Vol. 2: A Library of Data Models for Specific Industries Review

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(More customer reviews)First the content: Contains everything that is not taught in graduate school (been there), and everything that a data modeller needs know about data modelling.
Next the format: Consumerism at its worse! An incomplete template here, missing template there-a tease to lay out $400 for a complete set of templates (on top of the $100 plus for both volumes already laid out).
The conclusion: invest in volume 1 and familiarize yourself with the valuable concepts layed out there-save your money and TIME with volume 2.

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The Data Model Resource Book, Vol. 1: A Library of Universal Data Models for All Enterprises Review

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(More customer reviews)I like this book. It definitely saves a lot of time and mistakes while data modelling which is one thing you better get right in your app as data migration to a new model both at the app and database level is often a time consuming and bug prone process.
That being said the locked cd is a nuisance and sometimes the data model becomes almost ridiculously detailed. For instance in one part of the book the author talks about extending the person data model to include things such as the history of the person's gender (for instance if they had multiple sex changes). I have seen a lot of overbuilt data models that had lots of entities that were rarely used and contributed to a significant amount of clutter and generally overwhelmed developers with useless details and planning for corner cases that never happened.

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The Object Constraint Language: Precise Modeling With Uml (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)First, I like this book. I trust about every line of it. It is itself precise or at least as precise as possible. It summarizes things in a concise and complete way. Required prior knowledge is UML (of course). I'd recommend Fowler's beautiful UML distilled and also even more important a solid understanding of design by contract. I recommend the complete book of Bertrand Meyer "Object Oriented Software Construction". Yes I know its many month of reading.
The problem with this OCL book is the following: It is difficult to understand anything not prior understood. However once one has a grasp of understanding this book is really clarifying. So, it requires in many areas more maturity in the field than most of us including me have. So, I would wish a book, which starts of at a somewhat lower level, in a less dry diction.

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Advanced ANSI SQL Data Modeling and Structure Processing Review

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(More customer reviews)Ever since i read this book first in a library in Atlanta, I coudlnt hold myself but buy this book immediately the following week.
Excellent description on data modelling, and has clear diagrams that are easy to understand.
a must have for all serious sql data modelling guys and programmers..

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This volume is a tool for utilizing the ANSI/ISO SQL outer join operation, and a guide to using this operation to perform simple or complex data modelling. It provides a look at the outer join operation, its powerful syntax, and features and capabilities that can be developed based on the operation's data modelling capacity. The author demonstrates how to tap into the power of data structure extraction technology that gathers data structure meta information naturally embedded in ANSI/ISO SQL outer join specifications. He also addresses existing SQL capabilities for improving performance, saving coding time, simplifying design, and reducing debugging time. The book also supplied critical review of the semantics of data structures; tells you how to perform multi-table outer joins and how to combine relational structures with hierarchical structures; and describes how to establish a default database standard or framework for data modelling.

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Object Oriented Systems Analysis: Modeling the World in Data Review

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(More customer reviews)This has the merit of being the first book to consider analysis from an OO pespective, but it does so in a distinctly data oriented way(as the title suggests). It is hard to see how behavioural modelling fits. The companion volume "Object Lifecycles" is essential reading if you want to apply this technique successfully in anything like an OO style.
This might make a good bridge for someone with an IM background moving into OO analysis/design. Other texts address this area much better now and apart from historical interest I can't really recommend it to a newcomer to the field.

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This reference describes the semantic modeling of data as atechnique for systems analysis. Authors focus first oninformation modeling itself and the problems to which such amodel applies, and then demonstrates how the model can beintegrated into the software development process. Four fullydeveloped models are included in the appendix.

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Data Modeling for Information Professionals Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this book to be a refreshing approach to teaching data modeling. With the current confusion between "object models" and "data models", Bob does a good jobe of presenting the concepts fundamental to both. His sequence is unusual (discussing occurrences before classes), but I think this is useful. I definitely recommend it to anyone trying to learn the field.

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8045k-6 "A powerful, yet easy-to-use resource for training people in data modeling principles. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs to develop data modeling competence." Clive Finkelstein, Information Engineering Services, www.ies.aust.com/~ieinfo. "An outstanding vehicle for learning the mysteries of data/object modeling." David Hay, President, Essential Strategies, Inc., www.essentialstrategies.com, author of Data Model Patterns, The most fun you can have learning data modeling! No matter what role you play in managing information, you need an in-depth understanding of how to structure data. Data Modeling for Information Professionals gives you what you need - painlessly! Based on an interactive course that's been earning raves for years, it's the informal, friendly, real-world introduction to data modeling.*Discover what data models are, what makes them successful, and what makes them fail. *Walk through every component of an enterprise data model. *Understand domains, predicates, entities, classes, relationships, attributes, and more. *Learn from enterprise case studies and extensive nontrivial examples.*Great for data administrators, analysts, SMEs, DBAs, and project managers!Comprehensive, insightful, and entertaining, Data Modeling for Information Professionals is the easy way to learn the data modeling techniques you can't afford not to know! REPOSITORY ON CD-ROM The many illustrations in this book expand and link when you launch the free data model using the included SILVERRUN CASE tool. Export this royalty-free model to jump start your own work and to practice using your own CASE tool. Or build your model u sing SILVERRUN, a leading tool for multiplatform, enterprise-capable business modeling.

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