This new edition of Database Modeling & Design continues to focus on the techniques for relational database design introduced in previous editions, starting with the entity-relationship (ER) approach for data requirements specification and conceptual modeling. Author Toby Teorey then looks ahead to the common properties in data modeling and operations shared among the relational model and advanced database technologies such as the object-oriented, temporal, and multimedia models. A full chapter is devoted to database design techniques for data warehousing and online analytical processing (OLAP).

Teorey covers the database life cycle from requirements analysis and logical design to physical design for local, distributed, and multidatabases. The discussion of basic principles is supplemented with a common, running example: a company personnel and project database based on real-life experiences and classroom testing.

Written for both the novice and the professional database designer, this book is the essential resource for database modeling, including the building of standard SQL data definitions. The design rules set forth in this book are applicable to any SQL-based system, including IBM DB2, Oracle V8.0, Informix IDS-UDO, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, and Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise.

* Continued focus on relational model
* Integration of information about data warehouse and OLAP, plus other advanced database technologies, including object oriented, multimedia, and temporal database
* Discussion of basic principles is supplemented by examples based on real life cases

Average Customer Review: ( 9 customer reviews )
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Given what I was looking for, the book was excellent. It described (perhaps in dry language) the theoretical underpinnings of a well designed (or normalized) database.

Also, the book gave me the proper smybolic and linguistic tools to tackle the task of DB design in a more organized and effecient process.

In short, it turns out there are very strict rules about what makes a database a well designed database. Given that previously I was designing on intuition alone, I found this book an excellent developmental tool. There were a few things I was doing wrong that I won't do again!

By the way, there are 2 chapters in the book that most people won't use. Or rather, if you need these chapters you probably don't need the other chapters. These are the chapters on geographically distributed database applications and the chapter on how the physical implementation of the database in memory can relate to query optimization.

17 of 17 found the following review helpful:

Perfect Balance of Theory and Practice!Apr 04, 1999

This is one of the best books I have found for the intermediate-advanced DB designers out there. Most of the other books dwell too much on theory - one of my main gauges for checking out DB Modeling books has been a scan for descriptions on what First and more advanced Normal Forms mean and this book does a great job. It goes step-by-step with plenty of worthwhile examples on why you should attempt to normalize to higher degrees and even on why, as a final step, you may actually want to denormalize (yes, undo some of the work that you've done). This is not a beginner's book - go get SQL for Dummies or the like if you're just getting started. If, on the other hand, you've been creating tables, databases, and indexes for a while and can't quite figure out how to get around a pesky design problem, then this is the perfect book for you.

15 of 15 found the following review helpful:

A bit dry, but impressively thorough!Feb 17, 2000
By Wilfredo R. Infante "Any sufficiently advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic."
Ok, yes the book is rather dry. No cute anecdotes here. But, if you bring yourself to really focus on it you'll find DM&D to be a well written book. At a little over 300 pages it did a great job of conveying the major DM concepts concisely yet with enough examples so that the reader can achieve a good level understanding. Also, not having to wade through another 1500 page goliath yet getting the same return, in terms of knowledge acquired, saves me time, my most valuable resource right now. Undisciplined novices may not find it a good 'motivator' book because it does serve up a great deal of information per page mixing both basic information and advanced concepts, this generally leads to rereading a page several times to let a theory and it's implications sink in. All in all I really thought it was a very worthwhile read. It filled a good number of 'holes' in my knowledge of data modeling. I've been doing Oracle database administration for 5 years and hardcore modeling in the last 2. I was pretty good at my job, now I'm even better! Hope this helps!

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:

Not for DB novices (3rd Edition)Sep 26, 2003
By adnan
PREAMBLE: I have experience with creating small DBs in Access and basic SQL and have been a business user of DBs for many years. I am knew to the DB modeling and design world and was looking for an introductory text on conceptual & logical DB modeling. I consider myself a novice.

The GOOD: Chapters 1-5 are done well. The book does a good job of introducing the reader to the Entity-Relationship(ER) model approach using the Chen notation and its extensions. It also does a good job explaining how ER modeling can be applied to a database life cycle, in particular, requirements analysis, conceptual and logical modeling. Also, the transformation of the ER model elements to SQL constructs and the process of DB normalization are explained well. The "real-life" case study helps with the explanations. The book provides an extensive list of literary references.

The BAD: From Chapter 6 and on. It started reading like an academic literature review of all advanced database related topics like Data warehousing (DW), Object-Relation DB(ORDB), and Object-Oriented DB (OODB), OLAP. The topics were covered in a cursory manner and then the reader is directed to the referred reading list for more information. Also, the book becomes much more academic on how the DBMS deals with the physical elements like access methods, indexes, data allocation, execution times, etc. These topics are way to technical for the novice DB user. The book does not really provide any real in-depth informaton on DB modeling and design for the other DB structures/tools discussed (DW,ORDB,OODB,OLAP).

CONCLUSION: The primary reason for the "2 stars" is the misleading commentary that this book would be useful to the novice designer. This book is not for a DB novice, but for intermediate-advanced DBA/Architect/Modeler. Overall, I found the book tries to cover too many topics and in the process diluting all the topics. Leaving the reader with the feeling of not really learning that much. If you are an intermediate-advanced DB user then I can see the book being useful in providing a roadmap to the DB literature while providing a basic introduction. Books of this nature should not try to tap both sides of the experience spectrum; pick one and then stick to that level.

15 of 17 found the following review helpful:

This book is not for the novice....Jan 23, 1999

If you're still trying to understand just how relational databases work, don't start with this book. In fact, read several more beginner-level books before trying to deal with this one. I'm half way through and can't say I comprehend any of what I've read. I did read wonderful reviews before I purchased "Database Modeling and Design," so there are many advanced readers who will surely benefit from the dry and technical style of writing and presentation in Teory's book. This is a perfect case of using so many source references that the author forgot to write for the reader, instead of for fellow academics. The marketplace now has a new type of database designer and analyst - those with liberal arts degrees, not engineering!

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