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Object Relational Dbms: Tracking the Next Great Wave (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data...
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by Paul Brown
Sales Rank: 1646925
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$2.22
At Amazon
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Paperback: 297 pages
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers; 2 Sub edition January 15, 1999
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1558604529
ISBN-13: 978-1558604520
Product Dimensions:
9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
Product Description
Discover why object-relational technology is ideal for supporting a broad spectrum of data types and application areas, from financial services to multimedia data. In this completely revised and updated edition, database experts Michael Stonebraker and Paul Brown explore the object-relational paradigm and examine the most recent developments in the field.
Specifically written for database application programmers, database analysts, and IT managers, this book includes detailed information on how to classify DBMS applications, where object-relational DBMSs fit in the database world, and what mechanisms are required to support such an engine.
* Offers completely updated and expanded information—new and revised material discusses both the latest technology and the latest products.
* Presents a simple matrix for classifying and evaluating DBMSs so that you can make informed judgments about object-relational systems.
* Includes examples, tables, and tests to help you judge the quality and optimization of systems now on the market.
Back Cover Copy
Discover why object-relational technology is ideal for supporting a broad spectrum of data types and application areas, from financial services to multimedia data. In this completely revised and updated edition, database experts Michael Stonebraker and Paul Brown explore the object-relational paradigm and examine the most recent developments in the field.
Specifically written for database application programmers, database analysts, and IT managers, this book includes detailed information on how to classify DBMS applications, where object-relational DBMSs fit in the database world, and what mechanisms are required to support such an engine.
FEATURES
- Offers completely updated and expanded informationÂnew and revised material discusses both the latest technology and the latest products.
- Presents a simple matrix for classifying and evaluating DBMSs so that you can make informed judgments about object-relational systems.
- Includes examples, tables, and tests to help you judge the quality and optimization of systems now on the market.
Customer Reviews & Comments
I am reviewing the 1st edition. Dr. Stonebraker is a pioneer in the field of object-relational database management systems (ORDBMS). He writes with confidence and clarity; he knows the subject matter because he was one of the early innovators. The book is mercifully short and to-the-point. It is well organized, and it includes an index, references, short code samples, and plenty of diagrams. The book assumes you have some background and experience with existing relational database management systems and SQL. It would also help if you have some basic understanding of implementation details like B-tree indexes and cost-based query optimizers. You should also have an understanding of OO concepts like inheritance and polymorphism, and some experience with an OO language like C++, Eiffel, Java, or Smalltalk. Armed with this background, the book is an excellent overview of the motivation, architecture, design, and features of ORDBMS. I especially liked the chapters on SQL parsing and query optimization, and also the discussions of how inheritance affects query and trigger processing. If you've never been exposed to the ideas and concepts of "object-relational," this is an excellent starting point. If you have the background described above, you will be able to read this book in a few sittings and come away with a basic - albeit incomplete - understanding of the field of ORDBMS. I say "incomplete," because Dr. Stonebraker fails to write about the dark side of ORDBMS. For example, once pointer-like references are introduced, the system runs the risk of 'dangling pointers'- precisely the kind thing a purely relational system elegantly avoids. This issue is never once mentioned, and yet I know for a fact it is a danger that must be dealt with on one commercial implementation I have used. There are other issues to be confronted and understood. C.J. Date has written extensively on the subject. Although C.J. Date's writing is sometimes long-winded and pedantic, you won't truly understand the ORDBMS topic until you've read what he has to say. The book is also a compelling marketing promotion for the product once sold by Stonebraker's now-defunct company. Given the "feature matrices" and other comparisons in the text, it is clear that his product was the hands-down winner at the time the book was written. This is all ancient history, however. The book shows its age and bias. First of all, Stonebraker's company Illustra (later renamed Informix) was recently acquired by IBM. Secondly, very little is said about Oracle, which has since implemented a very respectable OR system of its own. Lastly, most of the other vendors he mentioned have fallen completely off the radar map. These days, all the database vendors have most of their attention turned towards XML and raw OLTP throughput. So it seems like "The Next Great Wave" predicted by Stonebraker never fully materialized. Perhaps the 2nd edition of the book has updated the vendor list and features matrices. I wish more was said about his early work on the "POSTGRES" system. If you're interested, you can find out much more about POSTGRES and its open-source offspring, PostgresSql, by using any Internet query engine. There is now a whole cottage publishing industry built up around PostgresSql. If you want to experiment and explore ORDBMS, PostgresSql may be a good choice. Based on what I can see in the table of contents, the 2nd edition doesn't include too much new material. Dr. Stonebraker has added a chapter on application servers. I know from his other work that he argues that middle-tier application servers are wrong-headed, because business logic should reside in the database itself - where it is physically close to the data. I rate the 1st edition of the book 3 stars because (1) It is dated (2) No space is allotted to the problematic issues of ORDBMS (3) "The Next Great Wave" never seemed to take off as predicted. Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile and useful book to read if you are interested in the topic. The 2nd edition will surely have an up-to-date comparison of the ORDBMS vendors as of 1999.
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Object Relational Dbms: Tracking the Next Great Wave (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data...
Available from Amazon
Price: $2.22
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