Relational Database Design and Clearly Explained, Fourth Edition , provides the conceptual and practical information necessary to develop a database design and management scheme that ensures data accuracy and user satisfaction while optimizing performance. Database systems underlie the large majority of business information systems. Most of those in use today are based on the relational data model, a way of representing data and data relationships using only two-dimensional tables. This book covers relational database theory as well as providing a solid introduction to SQL, the international standard for the relational database data manipulation language. The book begins by reviewing basic concepts of databases and database design, then turns to creating, populating, and retrieving data using SQL. Topics such as the relational data model, normalization, data entities, and Codd's Rules (and why they are important) are covered clearly and concisely. In addition, the book looks at the impact of big data on relational databases and the option of using NoSQL databases for that purpose.
Read as support for my Son's CSE class. Having 30+ years in RDBMS solutions, was actually quite pleased on the approach and coverage this book provides.
Where this book really separates itself from the plethora of books available about SQL and Databases is that the book maintains a keen focus on the design decisions that go into creating a database, instead of simply finding a trivial example that demonstrates the syntax. Overall, I found the book to be very approachable, while at the same time not shying away from intermediate level topics.