Database: Model, Language, and Design: Model, Language, and Design

Author: Johnson
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Currently, there are few books that discuss relational and hierarchical databases, while books on object-oriented and deductive databases are often large, comprehensive works. However, there are few books that systematically discuss various database models and their interrelationships. This book fills this gap. The book provides a detailed discussion of the first five database models, covers storage structures applicable to various models, and addresses normalization and database logical design issues. It concludes with a brief overview of database management system implementation and performance-related issues such as concurrency handling, recovery, security, and performance optimization. The greatest feature of this book is its unified discussion and comparison of the five database models based on data structures, data operations, data integrity constraints, and expressive power. It offers unique perspectives and highly insightful approaches on certain issues. In summary, this book is an invaluable reference for database researchers. The book elaborates on the fundamental theories and techniques of databases, including data models, query languages, storage structures, logical design, and issues related to implementation and performance such as concurrency, recovery, security, and optimization. The book is divided into four parts, with a total of 20 chapters, each accompanied by summaries and exercises. The greatest feature of this book is its comprehensive discussion of data models, covering five types: relational models, object-oriented models, logical models (deductive databases), network models, and hierarchical models. Each data model is explained around the three core elements of data models (entity-relationship representation, queries, and constraints), with comparative analysis of the expressive power and characteristics of different models. Additionally, it discusses the storage structures of different data models. The relational model is currently a very popular data model. The object-oriented model and logical model (deductive database) emerged in the 1980s and 1990s but did not become widely popular, though many of their research achievements have been absorbed by relational models. The network model and hierarchical model have become historical, but they continue to play a role in the research of new database technologies (such as object-oriented models and XML queries) as references. This book can serve as a textbook for graduate and undergraduate students in computer-related fields, as well as a reference for researchers and professionals in the database field to understand the basic ideas and characteristics of various data models.