Database

Database Design for Mere Mortals(R): A Hands-On Guide to Relational Database Design (2nd Edition)
$64.99
This is probably the single best book on database design I've read. It assumes some background in databases to begin with though, so I would recommend the reader to be familiar with at least one RDMS prior to reading this one. The key here is the method of designing a database: the interview process, the pragmatic approach to understanding the needs of a business before writing any SQL, etc. In other words, don't pick this one up expecting to learn how to design the next Borland engine, read it to discover how to make a living as a professional DBA.

The pragmatic programmer would compliment this book nicely for a senior level DBA course.

Database Modeling and Design: Logical Design, 4th Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)
$60.95
I thought the early chapters had some good information, but it's information I can find in some other books that I've already read. Earlier editions of this book may have been there first chronologically, I don't know. I really have problems with Chapter 6 on Normalization: I think the main example (figure 6.2) is very non-intuitive (report_no isn't a primary key for the Report table--it seems to be a one-to-one relationship with editor, dept_no, dept_name, and dept_addr based on the small sample data). Additionally, the example repeatedly states that there is only one candidate key in this table. The data sample doesn't seem to bear that out. I also think it would have been better if the author had given an example of how a table might NOT meet the First Normal Form, rather than just starting with an example of a table that is. I think the definition of 2NF is imprecise, although the example and solution are correct. I think the whole topic (of Normalization) is covered much more clearly and realistically by Clare Churcher in "Beginning Database Design".

Beginning Database Design Solutions (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
$44.99
As i was participating in all India software development competition conducted by IBM for Students, i needed to built database for my project (Stock and Portfolio Management Solution) and luckily i found this book.

I completed reading this book in 10 days and took exactly 3 days to successfully design a workable database for my project.

I previously had Database Design subject in my 5th semester of CS Engineering ,but my real understanding about databases came after reading Mr.Rod Stephens book which is simple at its best.

Now with full confident i can mention in my resume that I'm capable of building and designing databases.

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Databases
$29.99
This book aims to give a basic conceptual overview of databases and a specific introduction to Microsoft Access. It fails at both.

I found the conceptual overview incomprehensible, and I have read some pretty dense technical stuff and learned software from manuals. The author has a serious problem with definitions, explanations, and examples. His definitions are either inane ("A table represents a 'thing' about an organization." - basically not a definition at all) or unhelpful ("Database normalization can best be described as the process of organizing a database." - isn't everything in the book about the process of organizing a database?) or indecipherable ("The fourth normal form isolates independent multiple relationships, and the fifth normal form isolates semantically related multiple relationships." - because all "absolutely beginners" know what an independent multiple relationship or a semantically related multiple relationship is, right?).

It seems as if the author gives purposely useless definitions so that he can say, Let me explain by using an example instead. But he does not know how to explain from examples. His writing does not make clear what in the example is a universal principle and what is a specific illustration. One example moves to another without an idea of what the point of the example was. After reading and re-reading his chapter of database normalization, one of the basic conceptual principles, I had a deep urge to whip out my college writing instructor's red pen. If I did, the pages would bleed with comments like, How? Why? How does this relate to this? How does this sentence follow from the previous sentence? Unclear!

It doesn't help that the author has a lazy, annoying writing style filled with crutches like "The question is ...," "The question remains ..." "What the heck does this all mean?" Usually, we don't know why the question is being asked. We don't know why the question "remains" and wasn't answered chapters earlier. And worst of all, most of the time, the author never answers his own question! The frequent editing errors don't make

As for the chapters focusing specifically on Access, they fail due to the over-reliance on screen shots. One of the other reviewers commented that you need a magnifying glass and 20/20 vision. I actually have 20/15 vision and still cannot make out the tiny images. A magnifying glass would be of no help because it's the print quality that renders the micro-fonts illegible. How did this ever get past quality control? As others noted, you have to have Access open on a computer to even try to follow the book.

This is bad teaching, bad writing, bad editing, bad publishing, and ultimately, bad thinking. So the question remains: Does technical writing have to be so bad?