Database Design for Mere Mortals(R): A Hands-On Guide to Relational Database Design (2nd Edition) (For Mere Mortals)

Sound database design can save hours of development time and result in a database which is more functional and easier to use. This book is a straightforward, platform-independent tutorial on the basic principles of relational database design, based on the author's years of experience teaching this material. Hernandez introduces the core concepts of design theory and method without the technical jargon. His use of hands-on examples and a wealth of practical examples made the first edition of this book the bestselling book on database design. Now the author has made a great book even better. He has rewritten much of the text, clarifyied old examples and added new ones, incorporated advances in database design, and added a CD-ROM. As Ken Getz says in his foreword to the second edition, "No matter what specific database package you're using, the concepts in this book will make sense, and will apply to your database design projects."

Programmers and software architects don't really make a conscious decision to design an application (particularly one with online exposure) around the three-tier model-view-controller design pattern anymore. Three-tier, largely because of its adaptability and stability, is the norm. All of which means you need a database to underpin each of your applications. Designing your databases correctly can make the difference between slow-running, complicated code and software that's speedy, modular, and easy to work with. Database Design for Mere Mortals prepares someone with only a passing familiarity with databases for the important job of building the persistence layer (also called the data model) for software.

Michael Hernandez explains database design in tradesman's terms. That is, he shows his readers how to identify the business problems that have to be satisfied by a database, then proceeds to explain how to build a solid solution to them. Hernandez's approach combines procedural guidelines (first identify critical facts, then apply a certain logic to yield tables, then establish cross-references, and so on) with practical definitions that clear up much of the rich trove of jargon surrounding databases. He walks through numerous examples, and doesn't shy away from the complexities that always exist in real customers' requirements. If you're not familiar with database design, and want to be, this is the book you need. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to design databases that fit business requirements and make software construction easier. In addition to explaining relational database concepts, the author explains data integrity, null values, keys, table relationships (one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many), and data types. He emphasizes processes designers should follow in building a new database or improving an existing one.