Description:
I'm a fairly technical person, but my knowledge of databases was superficial, so I decided to read this book. It is billed as suitable for the novice, and therefore should take things slowly and methodically. It feels disjointed and poorly structured. The author seems to jump from one topic to the next. But probably the most significant problem is that the author uses terms and concepts before defining or describing them. I can only imagine how confused a true novice might be when reading some of this. Examples: He talks about Online Transaction Processing and Data Warehousing without really defining them or giving examples that would help the reader understand what they're used for. On page 10, there is a figure purportedly showing what a relational database model looks like. However, it uses symbols and lines that he does not explain till later in the book. Without explaining the symbols, what good is the diagram? Many places, he talks about normalization before explaining what it is. In one spot where he starts to explain normalization, he writes, "Normal Forms beyond 3rd Normal Form are often ignored and sometimes even 3rd Normal Form itself is discounted." He does not explain what a Normal Form is.It's just text that will have no meaning at all to the reader. He talks about tables and columns before adequately explaining what they are. In Chapter 3, he covers simple datatypes. First, he explains what a fixed length string is. But in his accompanying diagram, he uses SQL constructs to explain it. The first line of his explanatory diagram is: SQL> select country||','||fxcode||','||currency As anyone with programming experience could tell you, explaining what a fixed-length string is is pretty straightforward. But for some reason the author ties it to a complex SQL example, even before he has explained anything about SQL itself. I almost gave up on the book, but slogged through to the end. It does get a little more understandable, yet I sometimes struggled to figure out just what the author was trying to convey. I found several mistakes, and there is an awful lot of needless repetition. There seemed to be several cases where the author said things like: It's probably a bad idea to ever do X, Y, or Z And then explained how to do X, Y, and Z. It also felt like the author did things like: Explain how to do T Note that it was probably a bad idea to do T Explain how to undo T Do yourself a favor and look through the book before buying it. Perhaps you'll find it more readable than I have.
ebook img

Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) PDF

497 Pages·2005·9.951 MB·English
by  Gavin Powell
#Computers #Organization and Data Processing
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download

Download Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) PDF Free - Full Version

by Gavin Powell| 2005| 497 pages| 9.951| English

Download Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) by Gavin Powell in PDF format completely FREE. No registration required, no payment needed. Get instant access to this valuable resource on PDFdrive.to!

Free Download PDF

About Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides)

I'm a fairly technical person, but my knowledge of databases was superficial, so I decided to read this book. It is billed as suitable for the novice, and therefore should take things slowly and methodically. It feels disjointed and poorly structured. The author seems to jump from one topic to the next. But probably the most significant problem is that the author uses terms and concepts before defining or describing them. I can only imagine how confused a true novice might be when reading some of this. Examples: He talks about Online Transaction Processing and Data Warehousing without really defining them or giving examples that would help the reader understand what they're used for. On page 10, there is a figure purportedly showing what a relational database model looks like. However, it uses symbols and lines that he does not explain till later in the book. Without explaining the symbols, what good is the diagram? Many places, he talks about normalization before explaining what it is. In one spot where he starts to explain normalization, he writes, "Normal Forms beyond 3rd Normal Form are often ignored and sometimes even 3rd Normal Form itself is discounted." He does not explain what a Normal Form is.It's just text that will have no meaning at all to the reader. He talks about tables and columns before adequately explaining what they are. In Chapter 3, he covers simple datatypes. First, he explains what a fixed length string is. But in his accompanying diagram, he uses SQL constructs to explain it. The first line of his explanatory diagram is: SQL> select country||','||fxcode||','||currency As anyone with programming experience could tell you, explaining what a fixed-length string is is pretty straightforward. But for some reason the author ties it to a complex SQL example, even before he has explained anything about SQL itself. I almost gave up on the book, but slogged through to the end. It does get a little more understandable, yet I sometimes struggled to figure out just what the author was trying to convey. I found several mistakes, and there is an awful lot of needless repetition. There seemed to be several cases where the author said things like: It's probably a bad idea to ever do X, Y, or Z And then explained how to do X, Y, and Z. It also felt like the author did things like: Explain how to do T Note that it was probably a bad idea to do T Explain how to undo T Do yourself a favor and look through the book before buying it. Perhaps you'll find it more readable than I have.

Detailed Information

Author:Gavin Powell
Publication Year:2005
ISBN:764574906
Pages:497
Language:English
File Size:9.951
Format:PDF
Price:FREE
Download Free PDF

Safe & Secure Download - No registration required

Why Choose PDFdrive for Your Free Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) Download?

  • 100% Free: No hidden fees or subscriptions required for one book every day.
  • No Registration: Immediate access is available without creating accounts for one book every day.
  • Safe and Secure: Clean downloads without malware or viruses
  • Multiple Formats: PDF, MOBI, Mpub,... optimized for all devices
  • Educational Resource: Supporting knowledge sharing and learning

Free Books Similar to Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it really free to download Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) PDF?

Yes, on https://PDFdrive.to you can download Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) by Gavin Powell completely free. We don't require any payment, subscription, or registration to access this PDF file. For 3 books every day.

How can I read Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) on my mobile device?

After downloading Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) PDF, you can open it with any PDF reader app on your phone or tablet. We recommend using Adobe Acrobat Reader, Apple Books, or Google Play Books for the best reading experience.

Is this the full version of Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides)?

Yes, this is the complete PDF version of Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) by Gavin Powell. You will be able to read the entire content as in the printed version without missing any pages.

Is it legal to download Beginning Database Design (Wrox Beginning Guides) PDF for free?

https://PDFdrive.to provides links to free educational resources available online. We do not store any files on our servers. Please be aware of copyright laws in your country before downloading.

The materials shared are intended for research, educational, and personal use in accordance with fair use principles.

We use cookies

We use cookies to ensure you get the best browsing experience on our website. By clicking "Accept Cookies", you agree that we can store cookies on your device in accordance with our Terms and Privacy.