Designing Relational Database Systems (Dv-Mps Designing) - Softcover

Riordan, Rebecca

Softcover

ISBN 10: 073560634X ISBN 13: 9780735606340

Publisher: Microsoft Pr, 1999

Synopsis

Meeting the demand for a definitive, design-focused guidebook to Microsoft's database technologies, Riordan offers practical discussion and instructive examples. She clarifies the rich but vast set of Microsoft tools for database development--from Access 20000 and SQL Server 7.0 to the various data access technologies within Visual Basic. Source code is featured on the CD-ROM.

About this title

Review

Because they're so complicated, many books on relational databases are either burdensomely academic (Database Management Systems is the classic example of this mode--it's superb, but one practically needs a professor to help you decode it) or so practical-minded as to be overly simple. Designing Relational Database Systems has struck an attractive balance between the two extremes by providing enough theory to enable you to design your databases intelligently, while keeping in mind real-world business practices and the practical limitations of actual database management systems.

Author Rebecca Riordan emphasizes Microsoft database products to a small degree, using Microsoft Access and the Jet engine in some of her examples. The Microsoft overtones aren't overpowering, by any means.

Riordan is an excellent writer, communicating complex details about database design clearly, referring to reinforcements (in the form of arrow-linked tables or conceptual flow diagrams) with great effect. She also uses anecdotal information--stories about getting customers to explain exactly what they want from a database system, for example--to communicate lots of practical advice to the reader. This book would be better with more information on platform-independent user interface design--which is key in publicly accessible Web databases--but that's a minor fault. Read this book if you want to be a more capable database architect. --David Wall

Topics covered: The theory and practice of designing relational databases and their management systems. The author explains tables and their relationships, queries, business logic, database schema, and interface design.

About the Author

With twenty years experience in the field, Rebecca M. Riordan has earned an international reputation for designing and implementing computer systems that are technically sound, reliable, and effectively meet her clients' needs. Her particular area of expertise is database design and she is a five year Access MVP. Rebecca has also authored several database books and served as a senior technical support engineer for Microsoft's database products. As a Microsoft employee in Australia, Rebecca was the Senior technical support engineer for Microsoft's database products.

Edition details

• Publisher: Microsoft Pr
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 073560634X
• ISBN 13: 9780735606340
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 293