[lgreco]

After 10+ years of teaching databases at the graduate, undergraduate, and professional level, I am contemplating the idea of writing my own textbook.

I am quite disappointed by the existing textbooks: they are massive, sprawling, and go beyond their topic. I am interested in producing a 180-220 pages textbook that will focus on the essential aspects of database design and deployment.

I am a strong supporter of conceptual design. I believe that a good ERD is the best foundation for any database application and I want to start from there.

I would be interested in and grateful for receiving suggestions as to what you would like to see in a decent textbook for databases. What are the important things that college students should learn about?

For example, many textbooks talk about multi-valued dependencies (MVDs) and how to correct them. But they do not discuss their evolutionary context, i.e., how does a schema develop MVDs in the first place! Can an ERD-generated schema exhibit MVDs? (I say, no). Thus in order to avoid MVDs in the first place, it's important to learn how to conceptually design a database.

I would like to keep the textbook vendor-agnostic. I am not planning on discussing any particular implementation of SQL -- product manuals do a far better job at that anyway. The principles, however remain the same, and that's what I want to focus on.

Therefore I am contemplating a book that will balance between design and deployment principles, but with a pragmatic approach: e.g., when it comes to query optimization, how much trust to put in an SQL engine's built-in optimizer and how much legwork you need to do? Should we bother talking about 1NF, 2NF, 3NF, even BCNF if a database is robustly normalized at the ERD level? Or, in other words, how does normalization reflect on conceptual modeling?

I will welcome any suggestions, criticism, pointers to decent material, and anecdotal evidence and stories that you may wish to share. Anything that I decide to use in any published textbook will be acknowledged properly.

Thanks,
leo.cs.uchicago.edu

[John Sheppard]

I have found all the books that I have found most useful are ones that show practical example. Multiple different questions and answers. Its the best way to learn.

[blindman]

Base upon our direct and extensive experience with students on this forum, your textbook should:

Originally Posted by Noob student

Send me teh codez plz!

...should answer important technical questions such as:

Originally Posted by Noob student

I has a database project. It must have normalizatrion. How to start?

...and should be short and concise, so as to:

Originally Posted by Noob student

Plz anser rite away. Very urgent!

...and should be written by

Originally Posted by Noob student

Expurts only, plez!

I assume you are already an expurt?

[r937]

Originally Posted by lgreco

For example, many textbooks talk about multi-valued dependencies (MVDs) and how to correct them. But they do not discuss their evolutionary context, i.e., how does a schema develop MVDs in the first place!

i've love to see an explanation of MVDs in english, not professor-speak

Originally Posted by lgreco

Should we bother talking about 1NF, 2NF, 3NF, even BCNF if a database is robustly normalized at the ERD level? Or, in other words, how does normalization reflect on conceptual modeling?

do this one in english too please

i do realize the above requests sound almost as silly as blindman's (you need to have seen the recent spate of student postings here in order to appreciate his post)

but i am sincere -- i can show you a dozen examples of sites on the web which purport to explain normalization but fail to warn you that you need to know the secret language first

[blindman]

Normalization begins with conceptual modeling.