Search results for ""Author C J Date""

This book sheds light on the principles behind the relational model, which is fundamental to all database-backed applications--and, consequently, most of the work that goes on in the computing world today. Database in Depth: The Relational Model for Practitioners goes beyond the hype and gets to the heart of how relational databases actually work. Ideal for experienced database developers and designers, this concise guide gives you a clear view of the technology--a view that's not influenced by any vendor or product. Featuring an extensive set of exercises, it will help you: * understand why and how the relational model is still directly relevant to modern database technology (and will remain so for the foreseeable future) * see why and how the SQL standard is seriously deficient * use the best current theoretical knowledge in the design of their databases and database applications * make informed decisions in their daily database professional activitiesDatabase in Depth will appeal not only to database developers and designers, but also to a diverse field of professionals and academics, including database administrators (DBAs), information modelers, database consultants, and more. Virtually everyone who deals with relational databases should have at least a passing understanding of the fundamentals of working with relational models. Author C.J. Date has been involved with the relational model from its earliest days. An exceptionally clear-thinking writer, Date lays out principle and theory in a manner that is easily understood. Few others can speak as authoritatively the topic of relational databases as Date can.

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Views are virtual tables. That means they should be updatable, just as "real" or base tables are. In fact, view updatability isn't just desirable, it's crucial, for practical reasons as well as theoretical ones. But view updating has always been a controversial topic. Ever since the relational model first appeared, there has been widespread skepticism as to whether (in general) view updating is even possible. In stark contrast to this conventional wisdom, this book shows how views, just like base tables, can always be updated (so long as the updates don't violate any integrity constraints). More generally, it shows how updating always ought to work, regardless of whether the target is a base table or a view. The proposed scheme is 100% consistent with the relational model, but rather different from the way updating works in SQL products today.This book can: Help database products improve in the future Help with a "roll your own" implementation, absent such product improvements Make you aware of the crucial role of predicates and constraints Show you how relational products are really supposed to behave Anyone with a professional interest in the relational model, relational technology, or database systems in general can benefit from this book.

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