Introduction to Database Systems, 8th Edition
Introduction to Database Systems, An 8/E
By Chris J. Date
Publisher: Addison Wesley
Number Of Pages: 1024
Publication Date: 2003-09-30
ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0321189566
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780321189561
Binding: Paperback
Amazon.com:
The newest edition of the classic An Introduction to Database Systems incorporates the latest developments in relational databases, including semantic modeling, decision support, and temporal modeling. There's better information on distributed databases, security, and the mathematics of relational databases too. With the same strong coverage of fundamental theory that made its predecessors stand out, this book ranks as the definitive textbook for those studying database systems.
This is an extraordinarily academic book. In his preface, C.J. Date goes so far as to lament having to use Structured Query Language (SQL) in some of his examples because it's "so far from being a true embodiment of relational principles." What's more, he writes in a very academic style, peppering his heavily footnoted prose with mathematical expressions and words like relevar and tuple. The academic style and highbrow language isn't a bad thing, since this book deals with complicated, largely abstract phenomena in depth.
Be aware that An Introduction to Database Systems is a far cry from the highly graphical, problem-focused books that target the community of commercial database developers, and as such requires more careful study. This book is about theories, concepts, and ideals rather than problems, solutions, and specific implementations. Per se, it will enable you to become a better database programmer--but only if you supplement it with practical guides and hands-on experience. --David Wall
Summary: When English is a set theory
Rating: 1
I cannot believe so many people gave this book such high ratings.
Date has no clue on writing structured English. The man has more than 4 clauses per sentence and this is not including the clauses in the brackets.
Publishers need to pay more attention when editing.
Only logically conclusion is that Date thinks in SQL and hence his English looks like SQL.
Waste of money.
Summary: A great introduction to the theory and practice of database design
Rating: 5
This is one of the better books on the theory of database systems design. It is not meant to be a book on applications, rather it is a commonly used textbook in upper level undergraduate and graduate classes on the subject. However, this latest edition has reorganized the material somewhat and has added to its sections on XML and SQL in an attempt to show the theory through more real-world scenarios.
The book is divided into six parts. The first section sets the scene by explaining what a database is and why database systems are generally desirable. Next a general architecture for database systems is presented that serves as a framework upon which all subsequent chapters are built. Next is a broad overview of relational systems and finally there is a chapter that introduces SQL and explains how it works and why it is not a perfect language.
The second section, on the relational model, is rather long. This reflects the fact that the relational model of database systems is the foundation that makes the field a science. The author does a good job of presenting the theory along with examples of this theory as practiced in SQL. However, remember that the SQL examples are to illuminate the theory, not vice versa. The author does an exceptional job of explaining the relational calculus.
The third section is dedicated to database design, and specifically relational database design. The database design problem can be stated very simply: Given some body of data to be presented in a database, how do we decide on a logical structure for that data? This section does an exceptional job of explaining and illustrating one of the more difficult concepts in database design, that of normalization and normal forms. Database normalization is a process that eliminates redundancy, organizes data efficiently, reduces the potential for anomalies during data operations, and improves data consistency.
The fourth section, on transaction management, will be familiar to those who are involved in operating system design. This section includes methods of protecting the database against non-deliberate threats such as a system crash in the middle of program execution that leaves the database in an unpredictable state, two programs concurrently executing that interfere with one another's operation therefore producing incorrect results, and updates that might change the database in an invalid way.
The fifth section, entitled "Further Topics", tackles a number of subjects that could be the topic of a complete book by themselves. This includes protecting databases against deliberate attacks, building optimization into databases so that they work more efficiently, handling missing database information, object-oriented concepts, and logic-based databases.
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