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Reviewer: Edward Y. Lee

As stated in the preface, this text is designed for an introductory course in database management. It follows the curriculum guidelines outlined by the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA), ACM, and the International Federation of Information Processing Societies (IFIPS). This fourth edition has added five topics that were not addressed in the third edition [1]: client/server and other databases on computer networks, the object-oriented data model, the entity-relationship data model, the query-by-example (QBE) language, and personal database systems. The book is well organized into five parts and 15 chapters. The following is taken from the “Brief Table of Contents” of the book (the detailed table of contents contains some useful information for both the instructor and students): Part 1, “The Context of Database Development,” consists of chapter 1, “The Database Environment,” chapter 2, “A Database Application for Pine Valley Furniture,” and chapter 3, “The Database Development Process.” Part 2, “Data Modeling and Database Design,” contains chapter 4, “The Entity-relationship Model,” chapter 5, “The Object-oriented Data Model,” chapter 6, “Logical Design and the Relational Model,” and chapter 7, “Physical Database Design.” Chapters 4 and 5 are new. Part 3, “Relational Database Implementation,” comprises chapter 8, “SQL: A Standard for Database Processing,” chapter 9, “Implementing a dBASE IV Database,” chapter 10, “Query-by-example: Implementing a Paradox 4.0 Database,” and chapter 11, “Advanced Features of PC Database System.” Chapters 9 and 11 cover new topics. Part 4, “Data Administration and Distributed Databases,” contains chapter 12, “Data Administration,” and chapter 13, “Client/server and Distributed Databases,” which is new in this edition. Finally, Part 5, “Legacy Database Systems,” consists of chapter 14, “Hierarchical Database Systems,” and chapter 15, “Network and CODASYL Implementations.” Two appendices present “Codd's 12 Rules for a Truly Relational System” and “An Overview of PC-RDBMSs.” The latter topic is new. A glossary of terms, a glossary of acronyms, and an index complete the book. Throughout the book, the authors use what they call real case examples to illustrate important concepts. They have picked five real commercial firms and given each a fictitious name. To generate some interest for each part, the introduction of each part is also illustrated with pictures relating to a well-known company such as Apple, IBM, or Sears Roebuck. To make the book easier to use for instructors and students, each chapter begins with the learning objectives and ends with a summary, review, and review questions. There are also problems and exercises at the end of each chapter. Although I did not have a chance to look into them, the authors have also provided a package of supplements. An “Instructor's Guide” includes teaching suggestions, sample answers to the problems and exercises, about 300 multiple-choice questions, exam questions, and transparency masters. A data disk contains dBASE IV, Paradox, and ASCII files for databases illustrated in the text, including all the data files, screens, and reports shown in chapter 2. A case book provides new realistic cases for course projects. Overall, this is an excellent introductory textbook for data management. The popularity of the prior editions for the last decade has attested to the strength and usefulness of this book. With this modern fourth edition, the authors choose to concentrate on the relational model, and wait until Part 5 to introduce the “Legacy Database Systems,” the three older data models that are still being used in many installations. The authors also try to introduce more modern topics such as client/server architecture, distributed databases, the object-oriented model, and integrated case tools. Unfortunately, these are fast-changing and complex areas of database management. For an introductory text, it is a tough assignment to come up with an appropriate level of discussion. Finally, the book also provides good references, glossaries of terms and acronyms, and a fairly extensive index. I highly recommend that teachers of introductory database management courses consider using this book as their textbook.