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.


From Library Journal
This truly excellent introduction to relational database design will work for both novices and advanced designers because the book does not tie itself to any particular database implementation. Hernandez has years of database design and training experience. For all levels from public to university libraries.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Time was, all database design books were packed with mathematics and jargon. You￯﾿ﾽd be up to your neck in normal forms before you even had a chance to wade. When Michael J. Hernandez needed a database design book to teach ￯﾿ﾽmere mortals￯﾿ﾽ like himself, there were none. So he began a personal quest to learn enough to write one. And he did.

Now in its Second Edition, Database Design for Mere Mortals is a miracle for today￯﾿ﾽs generation of database users who don￯﾿ﾽt have the background -- or the time -- to learn database design the hard way. It￯﾿ﾽs also a secret pleasure for working pros who are occasionally still trying to figure out what they were taught.

Drawing on 13 years of database teaching experience, Hernandez has organized database design into several key principles that are surprisingly easy to understand and remember. He illuminates those principles using examples that are generic enough to help you with virtually any application.

Hernandez￯﾿ﾽs goals are simple. You￯﾿ﾽll learn how to create a sound database structure as easily as possible. You￯﾿ﾽll learn how to optimize your structure for efficiency and data integrity. You￯﾿ﾽll learn how to avoid problems like missing, incorrect, mismatched, or inaccurate data. You￯﾿ﾽll learn how to relate tables together to make it possible to get whatever answers you need in the future -- even if you haven￯﾿ﾽt thought of the questions yet.

If -- as is often the case -- you already have a database, Hernandez explains how to analyze it -- and leverage it. You￯﾿ﾽll learn how to identify new information requirements, determine new business rules that need to be applied, and apply them.

Hernandez starts with an introduction to databases, relational databases, and the idea and objectives of database design. Next, you￯﾿ﾽll walk through the key elements of the database design process: establishing table structures and relationships, assigning primary keys, setting field specifications, and setting up views. Hernandez￯﾿ﾽs extensive coverage of data integrity includes a full chapter on establishing business rules and using validation tables.

Hernandez surveys bad design techniques in a chapter on what not to do -- and finally, helps you identify those rare instances when it makes sense to bend or even break the conventional rules of database design.

There￯﾿ﾽs plenty that￯﾿ﾽs new in this edition. Hernandez has gone over his text and illustrations with a fine-tooth comb to improve their already impressive clarity. You￯﾿ﾽll find updates to reflect new advances in technology, including web database applications. There are expanded and improved discussions of nulls and many-to-many relationships; multivalued fields; primary keys; and SQL data type fields. There￯﾿ﾽs a new Quick Reference database design flowchart. A new glossary. New review questions at the end of every chapter.

Finally, it￯﾿ﾽs worth mentioning what this book isn￯﾿ﾽt. It isn￯﾿ﾽt a guide to any specific database platform -- so you can use it whether you￯﾿ﾽre running Access, SQL Server, or Oracle, MySQL or PostgreSQL. And it isn￯﾿ﾽt an SQL guide. (If that￯﾿ﾽs what you need, Michael J. Hernandez has also coauthored the superb SQL Queries for Mere Mortals). But if database design is what you need to learn, this book￯﾿ﾽs worth its weight in gold. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Praise for Database Design for Mere Mortals™, Second Edition:

"If you told me that Mike Hernandez could improve on the first edition of Database Design for Mere Mortals, I wouldn't have believed you, but he did! The second edition is packed with more real-world examples, detailed explanations, and even includes database design tools on the CD-ROM! This is a must-read for anyone who is even remotely interested in relational database design, from the individual who is called upon occasionally to create a useful tool at work, to the seasoned professional who wants to brush up on the fundamentals. Simply put, if you want to do it right, read this book!"
--Matt Greer, Process Control Development, The Dow Chemical Company

"Mike has always had an incredible knack for taking the most complex topics, breaking them down, and explaining them so that anyone can 'get it'."
--John Viescas, President, Viescas Consulting, Inc.
Author of Running Microsoft Access 2000 and coauthor of SQL Queries for Mere Mortals

"Whether you need to learn about relational database design in general, design a relational database, understand relational database terminology, or learn best practices for implementing a relational database, Database Design for Mere Mortals™, Second Edition, is an indispensable book that you'll refer to often."
--Paul Cornell, Site Editor, MSDN Office Developer Center

"The second edition expands and improves on the original in so many ways. It is not only a good, clear read, but contains a remarkable quantity of clear, concise thinking on a very complex subject."

--Malcolm C. Rubel
Performance Dynamics Associates

"Database Design for Mere Mortals™, Second Edition, helps you design your database right in the first place!"
--Matt Nunn, Product Manager, SQL Server, Microsoft Corporation

Sound database design can save hours of development time and ensure functionality and reliability. Database Design for Mere Mortals™, Second Edition, is a straightforward, platform-independent tutorial on the basic principles of relational database design. It provides a commonsense design methodology for developing databases that work.

Database design expert Michael J. Hernandez has expanded his best-selling first edition, maintaining its hands-on approach and accessibility while updating its coverage and including even more examples and illustrations.

This edition features a CD-ROM that includes diagrams of sample databases, as well as design guidelines, documentation forms, and examples of the database design process.