Inside Relational Databases [With CDROM]

This book is excellent! At the time I read this book I had been working with Access, Sybase, & Oracle for 7 years. However all of my database knowledge was product-oriented and I did not have a really firm grasp of general database concepts and principles: primary & foreign keys, tables, joins, and other basic concepts were never explained thoroughly. Sure you can read about these concepts in the documentation for whatever database product you're using, but everyone glosses over these important basic concepts and assumes that "someone else covered it", when in fact no one has. This book changes all that. Although it is written for beginners, I suspect that even intermediate administrators and developers will get a lot out of this book; it's the kind of book where just when you think you already know the material, you come upon some nugget of information that clears up a concept you'd always had trouble understanding. That's what makes this book valuable. The fact that the author is british doesn't surprise me; I've noticed lately that when it comes to technical writing, English authors do an excellent job of covering the basics before going on to the more technical material, whereas American authors tend to focus more on writing books and articles that are product-specific. Now that Mark Whitehorn has covered the basics in this book, I hope he will consider writing an Oracle book.

Could someone who has read this book please write a review and indicate whether or not the new edition uses all examples in Microsoft Access (as the old edition did) or not? Thanks.Yeah, all of the original examples from the first edition are still based on Access - the sample files are provided in Access 7 and Access 200 format. What has been added to the second edition of the book is a section that covers topics like triggers, transaction logs, ER modelling etc. Those are more relevant to client-server database engines like SQL Server, DB2 and Oracle and to tools like Visio and ErWin; so the new section uses some screen shots from those tools.If you are an Access user this book is still as appropriate to you as the first edition was. And, if you use one of the more complex database engines, the second edition has just become even better than it was because there is information about the addition features that those tools use.

I have had countless hours of training in several versions of Access. It was never the using of Access that I had a problem with. What always mystified me was the design of the actual database. I would sit and ponder whether I needed one table, multiple tables, what should be the primary key, which relationships to use, etc. As a result, I never really was comfortable with or deeply into using Access. All of this has changed with this book. This book is written in a simple straightforward manner that explains all of these details. They carefully and not too slowly show you how to properly design your databases. Their examples are primarily in Access (97 & 2000 formats). Access 2000 is used for all of the screenshots. You learn by reading their instruction and then opening Access to view the related sample database located on the accompanying CDROM. This book is only 345 pages long. It is NOT the gigantic volume of so many books. As a result it is something you can get thru in managable bites and not feel overwhelmed. This book was really written for beginners. I don't think it would hurt an intermediate person to read it, but I think advanced developers can probably skip it. Having said all this, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It is one of those rare books that had a (good) career-impacting effect on me. I hope it is as helpful for you!

Inside Relational Databases will teach the newcomer to Access or relational databases in general, the theory needed to design and develop applications in the most efficient and professional manner.All those theoretical questions you are asking yourself when programming in Access will suddenly be answered, and you find yourself more confident and inspired to develop the best application possible now that you passed this hurdle; at least I did.The first 3 parts of the book will teach you the relational database model supported by examples on the enclosed CD-ROM. These examples are not to be used as "cut & paste" into your own application, but designed to turn theory into reality easy to grasp! The last part consists of standalone chapters covering essential subjects related to database theory and design, like: Normalization, SQL, Queries and Codd's RulesYou will not find another computer book on Access and relational database theory and design, or any other subject for that matter, which makes use of such clear language. I have read the book cover to cover several times, and I am still impressed. Which makes me ask if we, the readers and buyers of computer books, quietly and wrongly accept badly written books filled with errors and poor language?If I were asked to make a list of suggested readings for Access and database developers, this would be No. 1.