I suppose there are two potential audiences for an introductory database book. The first audience consists of developers who need to know the very basics about databases to design and implement a database computer application. For that group I would recommend Date's book, but only upon having sufficient "computer science maturity": i.e. having taken one year of programming, and possibly a course in discrete mathematics and/or data structures and algorithms. Without this maturity much of what Date writes will be very hard to appreciate if not comprehend. True, he gives numerous examples that are quite understandable, but he also spends many paragraphs discussing somewhat abstract issues to the novice that will make him or her want to skip ahead. A good example of this is the notion of thinking of a table as the current value of a relvar, or the importance of closure in the relational algebra. The paragraphs he spends on these subtle importances will frustrate the uninitiated reader.
For someone who does not believe that he or she has the maturity to handle this book, and simply wants to develop an application that requires a database, I would recommend buying a more "down-to-earth" book possibly covering the RDMS that will be used. For example, if it is MySQL, then one might want to purchase
Welling's "MySQL Tutorial" (ISBN: 0672325845) for a much gentler and user-friendly introduction (or better yet the PHP and MySQL web development book if a web application is desired).
The other audience for this book are the professionals who are in charge of managing a database and/or using a database server for an industrial-strength application. In this case, Date's book is mandatory reading. May be not all of it, but certainly Parts I-IV. Reading these parts will give the professional the needed perspective on all the considerations required for successfully using or managing a database system.
In the world of database systems, Chris Date is one of the few authors who understands the importance of every minute detail involved with successfully using and managing databases. He proves that in this book, in a style that is not only academic but also quite useful and practical (especially his chapters on the relational algebra and calculus).
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2005
- Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2010
- Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2014
Top reviews from other countries
- Chandrabhatta SriramReviewed in India on November 2, 2018
Where can we find all the DBMS concepts? This is THE BOOK for DB Systems.
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