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By C.J. Date
First Edition
May 2005
Pages: 230
Series: Theory In Practice
ISBN 10: 0-596-10012-4 |
ISBN 13: 9780596100124
(Average of 5 Customer Reviews)
This concise guide sheds light on the principles behind the relational model, which underlies all database products in wide use today. It goes beyond the hype to give you a clear view of the technology--a view that's not influenced by any vendor or product. Ideal for experienced database developers and designers.
Full Description
- understand why and how the relational model is still directly relevant to modern database technology (and will remain so for the foreseeable future)
- see why and how the SQL standard is seriously deficient
- use the best current theoretical knowledge in the design of their databases and database applications
- make informed decisions in their daily database professional activities
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Book details
First Edition: May 2005
Series:
ISBN: 0-596-10012-4
Pages: 230
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 5 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
Read this if you think you understand data!, July 21 2008
In my twenty years in the field of data analysis I have watched many organizations fail in their implementation of relational data systems. The successes I have witnessed were the products of information analysts and database designers who understood the relational model.
This is the most (and perhaps the only) readable book on the subject of the Relational Model which is addressed to real-world practitioners. It will clarify your thinking.
If you never write SQL code, you don't need this book. Otherwise, you probably do.
An excellent introduction to the relational model by one of the best thinkers in the field., October 03 2007
When I was early in my Computer Science degree I took a course in which we discussed database fundamentals. In that class we learned about things like tuples, relations, predicates, predicate logic and deductive proofs. All of these were involved with the relational model, but it wasn't until later when I discovered the writings of Fabian Pascal and C. J. Date that I began to really understand how the above concepts tied into the database systems I was using, such as Oracle, MySQL, and Postgresql. One of those aha moments came when I realized that the deductive proofs we had done in that class were essentially queries to a database system. I came to see how each row (tuple) in a database table (relation) represented a set of values for a predicate that the relation represented. Overall, a database, then, was the logical AND of all the facts represented by the tuples of each relation. Queries were simply deductive proofs which allowed one to derive new facts from existing facts in the database. Good stuff all around.
If you're lucky, you will have studied Date's venerable Introduction to database systems while taking a college course in databases. If not, then you're still lucky, becuase Date has condensed the fundamentals of the relational model into a very approachable and very practical book published by O'Reilly, Database In Depth
Database In Depth takes you through a tour of the key concepts of the relational model, starting with the very basics (types, tuples, relations and so forth), and takes you step-by-step into more formiddable territory (stuff like normalization, join dependencies, integrity constraints, relational algebra, and the like). Throughout the book, Date explains each concept in his characteristic clarity. Date knows this stuff through and through, and it shows.
You may be tempted to think like many others that theory and fundamentals are fine and dandy, but how practical are they in the real world? In my experience, they're crucial. By understanding the fundamentals and the theory behind the databases you work with, you can avoid costly design flaws that lead to poor data integrity. By understanding these concepts, you can design databases that you can trust absolutely to store and deliver accurate results. I've had to work with databases that weren't designed with these concepts in mind, and the difference is stark.
One warning, you wont be spoon-fed here. The material can be challenging, and Date expects you to use your brain. This isn't SQL For Dummies. The real advantage you will gain by reading a book like this is that you will understand the mathematical and logical reasoning behind practical design principles such as why, for example, it's important to normalize (and the pitfalls you can run into when you de-normalize), why nulls can potentially lead to bad logic, and why duplicate rows are a bad idea all around. You'll be able to understand the ways in which most of today's database systems fail to faithfully implement the relational model, and the consequences of those failures (and consequently how to design your databases well despite these shortcomings).
Unlike many computer books that become obsolete within a year or two of their publication, Database in Depth is among that narrow collection of computer books that remain useful and relevant for years. This is precisely because it remains grounded in theory and fundamentals, instead of being tied to specific brands and versions of software.
The bottom line here is if you do much of anything with databases, then just about anything you read by C. J. Date will be worth your while. Database In Depth is no exception.
Very disappointing, December 04 2006
Whilst the author is obviously an expert with a detailed knowledge of the relational model and its problems, he is an awful writer, so it takes a lot of work from the reader to extract information from this book. The book is peppered with unnecessary phrases like "At this point I would like to recap on some of the points I have made in this chapter, whilst paying special attention to blah blah blah". Just make the point!
I've always found O'Reilly books to be admirably concise, so I was really disappointed to find a book so in need of radical editing on their shelves.
The author also uses the book to attack other authors and database professionals, even at times the original reviewers of the book. It gives that uncomfortable feeling of walking in on a private argument.
At this point I would like to finish my review.
Excellent, concise, challenging, and thought-provoking, October 18 2005
Since I read Date's An Introduction To Database Systems 8th Edition, all 1024 pages of it, I've been wishing he'd do a shorter guide so that people put off by the size of Intro (outstanding though the book is) would still benefit from learning the relational model.
Database In Depth is even better than I expected, since he incorporated concepts from Third Manifesto as well.
This is a book every software developer should read. The relational model offers a useful, elegant, and complete model of data that everyone using SQL, XML, or any other data management technology needs to understand, if only to use their own technologies more effectively.
Well-written, well-organized, and the examples at the end of the chapters are truly icing on the cake - they provoke thinking, not just rote memorization. This will make an excellent class textbook.
It's a wonderful thing!, May 14 2005
This title offers brief descriptions and careful defintions of all the features of the relational model -- and illuminating discussions of those features which seem to be most frequently misunderstood, ignored, or forgotten by so-called database practitioners.
For those not familiar with C. J. Date, let me offer this: he is a profound and prolific contributor in the field of data, databases, database systems, and the languages used therein. His thoughts and ideas have always been carefully considered and captured in well written, painstakingly correct but nontheless entirely readable prose.
This book is a much smaller tome than Date's "Database Systems" -- detailed and formal explanations will have to be found elsewhere. This book doesn't touch upon the topics covered in Date's (and others) "Temporal Data" -- the scope is strictly limited to the relational model.
There is very little new in this book - I detected only a few slightly different descriptions of things I've read (and heard - lucky me!) from Date over the past few years. But the material which is included is well organized and very polished.
As Date points out, our understanding of the relational model is maturing. More exciting to me is that, in recent years, our ability to describe the relational model seems to be improving more than our ability to understand it. This is due in large part to Date's efforts.
I'm completely glad to have this small volume in hand. If you embrace the relational model and are a practitioner, you will be, too.
Media reviews
"C.J. Date, author of (among many others) the standard text An Introduction to Database Systems (Eighth edition, Addison-Wesley, 2003), has written a tome that explores the theory but that always keeps an eye on its practical applications. Database in Depth is aimed at working professionals, complete with exercises for a self-guided tutorial. The book doesn't get bogged down in any single product; instead focusing on SQL Server's quirks or MySQL's peculiarities, it concentrates on the principles common to all RDBMSes."
-- Rick Wayne, Software Development Magazine
"Date was one of the first to realize the importance of relational databases. This small book is a brilliant distillation of what we've learned since Codd's first paper (1969)... This is not an easy read but a meaty one. If you work with databases, you need to know how they work, not merely how to do X or Y in the system your company is paying for. Understanding is an enabler, and Date provides understanding."
--Peter Salus, UnixReview, August 2005
"Rather than write a textbook style discussion of the finer points of database theory, Date has used this book to update some of his thinking and to consolidate a number of his talks and writings of late. For serious students of relational database concepts, I'd consider this the latest 'must read' to keep up with current thinking by one of the masters."
--Thomas Duff, Duffbert's Random Musings, June 2005
"If you are not a professional databaser, don't get this book. On the other hand, if you are a database coder, this book will keep you busy rethinking your priorities as C.J. Date challenges our knowledge of 'how things are' with his 'how things should be'... Each chapter is textbook-like including exercises at the end, so this looks and acts like a University-level textbook. And I bet that is intentional. I struggled getting through this book. It is deep. And DBAs probably eat, drink, and sleep this stuff, but I don't. That said, C.J. Date makes the concepts and principles of database design and coding very understandable, but he speaks to those who are already 'in the know.'"
--Robert Pritchett, MacCompanion, July 2005
