Database Design and Relational Theory by C.J. Date

Summary:Definitely worth the attention

Database Design and Relation Theory is targeted on database professionals. It means that you have to have some database related background already. If you don’t, start with something else before you get into this one – for sure! Otherwise you might get lost in definitions and all the concepts presented in the seminar.

Video training is based on the book with the same title. So, you can choose either the book itself, or this companion material. By the way, together with the Video training you get all the slides as well. This way it is super easy to follow the seminar in case you want to focus on some particular slide. And you always have the possibility to refresh your memory quickly in case there are references to topics that have been already discussed.

The way material is presented is very concise and formal. You actually take a part in an academic lecture discussing Database Design. It will require lots of attention from your side and your brain will have to do work here. There is no chance for getting an easy path through it, unless you are already familiar with all the topics. You need to poses basic mathematical skills in terms of algebra of sets, basic knowledge of logic, and you should be familiar (maybe more suitable here would be comfortable) with the mathematical approach to proving theorems. It doesn’t mean you will have to do this. But if you know what is it all about, it will be easier for you to follow the contents of the material.

As for the time. Don’t assume you will spent the same amount of time as specified in the description. I’d easily multiply it by two. The point here is that you will definitely need to go through the slides carefully (from time to time) to get the concepts fully understood. Sometimes you will probably jump back to what you have already seen just to recall some concepts and to make sure you are on the right track with you way of thinking.

Even though this one is not an easy go, I’d definitely suggest it to people who are involved in database design. You might get surprised with some examples that are really counterintuitive. And (I must admit here) I was told some ideas in the past that were wrong by definition. Here, I got them explained once again – this time, the correct way.

When it comes to the price, I must admit this one is quite costly. So, depending on your needs you might rather subscribe to safari books online instead. On the other hand, if you buy the video itself, you can transfer it to your iPad or Nexus with ease.

O’Reilly (print): http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920025900.do
Safari Books Online: http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9781449336370?portal=oreilly&cid=orm-cat-readnow-9781449336370