Databases DeMYSTiFieD, 2nd Edition

This book is very detail-oriented and provides instruction needed to pass the class. Concepts for database are very well handled, not easy but worth the read.

Needed this for a college class. It's a decent book, a little heavy on history (nice to know, but . . .). It provides good detail on queries in Access and SQL. After that it's an overview of DB concepts that you will get in detail if that is your career destination.The section on joins is a little sparse, and I found some simple explanations online that would have fit nicely into the book.One other gripe is that the author uses jargon too early. "A . . . command-line client tool for submitting SQL statements" is in the first sentence of the SQL "getting started" section. Now I know what all that means, but four months ago it made me feel like an idiot.

very helpful book

Anyone needing a quick and easy introduction to the field will find this paperback a valuable resource. Moreover, MySQL and Access (TM, Microsoft) are acceptable and used in examples. The former is a free open source download and the latter is a common component of Microsoft's Office suite of products. However, Microsoft has its own (non-standard and extended) version of SQL. Nevertheless, you'll gain much from Andy Oppel's simple introduction to the field.

I was dissappointed with this book. I found myself skipping whole chapters because they were so application specific (Access) and I just couldn't extrapolate the bigger concepts from the narrow use of applications. It was also a lot more technical then I expected, so I would recommend this book to someone that uses Access specifically, and who has the basics down pretty well, and is looking for a pehaps shorter version of a much more technical book. I haven't quite finished it, so if I find a particularly useful hidden "gem", that makes it more star-worthy I will come back and update.

For someone who never had any official courses or training in databases, only bits and pieces from things I had to do in work or in university exercises, this book was just what I was looking for. It's simple and gets right to the point. It gives good examples and is really thorough with them, covering a lot of permutations to give the reader the proper intuition in how to deal with the material learned. Overall I am extremely satisfied with this book and highly recommend it.

I must say that I truly love this book. It is easy to follow and also easy to read. The quizzes at the end of each chapter are really engaging and they do require the reader to think. Even though this book is not as "deep" as something you might pick up by CJ Date, you can tell that the writer of this book has truly implemented several database technologies, and is aware of all of the nuances as they exist in the different database programs out there.

I bought the book because of the good reviews given in Amazon. I am totally satisfied with the book. It gives clear, concise and precise explanation about concepts involving database design. The book should be in the collection of everyone who wants to learn database design. A very good reference for those who wants to refresh their memories about database design. I hope the author could write a continuation of this book to discuss more complicated designs such as the full design of the TLA University Academic Tracking etc.