From da53e6703c7a9c9f3186190150129cc24b6c7ca0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Julio Biason Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2021 09:47:41 -0300 Subject: [PATCH] Book review: Concise Guide to Databases --- .../books/concise-guide-to-databases.md | 83 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 83 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/reviews/books/concise-guide-to-databases.md diff --git a/content/reviews/books/concise-guide-to-databases.md b/content/reviews/books/concise-guide-to-databases.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd16960 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/concise-guide-to-databases.md @@ -0,0 +1,83 @@ ++++ +title = "Concise Guide To Databases - Peter Lake, Paul Crowther" +date = 2021-02-10 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "it", "books:2021", "published:2013", "peter lake", +"paul crowther"] ++++ + +[GoodReads +Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18475615-concise-guide-to-databases): +This easy-to-read textbook/reference presents a comprehensive introduction to +databases, opening with a concise history of databases and of data as an +organisational asset. As relational database management systems are no longer +the only database solution, the book takes a wider view of database technology, +encompassing big data, NoSQL, object and object-relational, and in-memory +databases. The text also examines the issues of scalability, availability, +performance and security encountered when building and running a database in the +real world. + + + +{{ stars(stars=1) }} + +Let me get something out of my system straight away: This book needs some +**serious** proof-reading. The authors seem to have an aversion to commas, and +that makes reading some sentences really hard ("Is that an adjective or a noun? +Oh, heck, I though it was an adjective, and now things don't make sense; let me +read that again as a noun to see if that works.") There are a lot of repeat +content (three times there is a discussion on how HDD prices are falling, how +the price per megabyte is falling and how SSD is faster than HD). All the +abstracts, the first part of every chapter, are just some copy'n'paste from a +few phrases of the first part after the abstract. And there are "is in the a +Microsoft", "none encrypted protocol" and there is even a "[company] and there +product". And two paragraphs one-next-to-the-other have "OS" written in 3 +different ways ("o/s", "O/S" and "OS"). Oh, and there is no definitive style for +anything: Sometimes quotations would have a larger margin compared to the rest +of the text and sometimes they won't; all commands (including SQL queries and +related commands to be entered in databases) are all in the same font as the +rest of the text (with one single exception in the end of the book); sometimes +there are sub-sub-sections (like "14.4.1.1) and sometimes it just uses bold text +with no numeration. + +But, if the book was actually nice (and easy) to read, besides all that, does is +live to its title? No. + +Is it "Concise"? Well, not quite. The printed version is 300+ pages long, which +I could hardly call "concise". A lot of content could be removed with no affect +in the end, like the step-by-step explanation of all 5 levels of database +normalization (which is also arguable if that makes sense in a book that should +discuss databases), the explanation of XML (which is not arguable and feels +completely lost in a book about databases) and discussions on what to do when a +disk fails. + +Is it a "Guide"? Not quite. The book does explore (lightly) different databases, +but fails to point **where** each makes sense: What kind of data/database +structure makes sense in a relational database? What kind of data fits better on +a NoSQL database? When it makes sense to use Hadoop? + +Is it about "Databases"? That's where the book fails hard, in my opinion. Sure, +it talks about Oracle, and a bit about Mongo, and Oracle, and some about +Cassandra, and Oracle, and they even mention Hadoop. And then Oracle. It feels +like the whole book is just a huge propaganda on how to operate Oracle, how +Oracle tools work, and so on. Sure they talk about other databases, but when +every example is about Oracle, you have to wonder why. + +Another example of how the book leans towards Oracle: There is a single mention +to PostgreSQL, saying that it "is popular with personal computer users". Heck, +AWS RDS was launched 4 years prior to the publishing of this book and it already +had the PostgreSQL layer. Since early 2000s, every time someone asked "What +database should I use for my project?" there was at least one "PostgreSQL" +answer. But, since PostgreSQL is in direct competition with Oracle, you can see +why it is largely ignored. + +So, hard to read and doesn't fill the topic it proposes in its title. "7 +Databases in 7 Weeks" does a better job about being a Guide to Databases than +this. + +--- + +ISSN 1863-7310e-ISSN 2197-1781 + +ISBN 978-1-4471-5600-0e-ISBN 978-1-4471-5601-7