Clare Churcher - Beginning Database Design: From Novice to Professional

Beginning Database Design

Beginning Database Design

Clare Churcher

Beginning Database Design: From Novice to Professional

Copyright 2012 by Clare Churcher

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ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-4209-3

ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-4210-9

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To Neville

Contents at a Glance

Contents

Foreword

When I wrote the foreword to the first edition of Beginning Database Design, I expressed my hopes to see this book become a popular classic. I felt that it deserved to be so. As the technical reviewer, I had thoroughly enjoyed Clares skill in turning a subject that is often presented dryly into a vivid and interesting book, and her skill in dissecting the thought process that lets you go from functional requirements to the design of a database that will be able to keep data consistent, grow, and bear the load. Beginning Database Design doesnt enunciate, like so many books, quasidivine rules with pretentious jargon. It explains the goals, the common mistakes, why they are mistakes, and what you should do instead. It brings to light the logic behind the rules, all in a short and very readable book.

There is much satisfaction in seeing five years later that my hopes have been fulfilled, and that Beginning Database Design has become one of the leading titles on this important topicdatabases are everywhere and database design belongs to the core body of knowledge of any serious software developer. This edition has retained all the qualities that made the first one successful, including Clares lucid writing and humor, and if the page count has increased it has mostly been to include exercises allowing readers to test their understanding and compare their solutions to the answers that are provided. As the technical reviewer once again, I was in a privileged position to witness the small improvementsthere wasnt that much to improvethat Clare has brought to her book, clarifying a sentence here, improving an example there. There is a great quote by Saint-Exupry, the author of