Absolute Beginner's Guide to Databases brings the elements of a database together using easy to understand language, perfect for the true beginner. It not only gives specific hands on practice, but also provides an overview of designing, maintaining and using a database. This book covers what databases are used for, why databases are important, why the design of the database is important, database normalization, keys to solid database design, differences in types of databases, and indexes--what they are, how we use them, and why they are important.

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Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 10 Ratings

Great for absolute beginners - 2005-04-08
Reviewer Rating:
This won't necessarily be a book you look at much once you've digested its contents. What it does is outline basic database concepts using Access in its examples. You can use the book to get a basic Access database started, but don't rely on it if you're looking to create databases. Get an Access or database design book if that's your primary goal - IF, that is, IF you can make heads or tails out of most of what those books are talking about.

What I love about the book is its dedication to simplicity: I looked all over the place for a book that outlined basic database concepts in an easy to understand manner, and found book after book that promised to be 0-60, and spent about, oh, 2 pages on the 0-10. Where's the core basics, guys? Answer: in this book. It'll getcha up to 10 MPH, and then you can move on to bigger and better stuff.

After reading this book (and I had it bookmarked twelve ways come Sunday for about two months), I am finally ready to consider those more advanced books. I'm not a dummy, but sometimes a simple book is needed to bridge the gap between being a novice and being experienced. This was the book for me, and I highly recommend it to anybody who needs more than 2 pages of core database theory explanation. It's also easy to read and very user-friendly, by the way.

Visio version not stated - 2004-12-10
Reviewer Rating:
This may be a good book, but after 50 pages and finding that I need Microsoft Access, as well as Visio to follow along, and then my Visio version doesn't have the required template...it is just a very frustrating book to get anywhere with. I'll keep trying, but this book just isn't for the beginner...sorry.

Too basic for some - 2007-06-22
Reviewer Rating:
If you are interested in learning about database client/server technology (SQL Server, MYSQL, Oracle, DB2, etc this book is probably not for you. If you want to learn SQL this book is probably not for you. This book does attempt to make clear the most basic database concepts. You must have MS Acess and Visio, though.

A terrible disappointment - 2009-11-18
Reviewer Rating:
This book aims to give a basic conceptual overview of databases and a specific introduction to Microsoft Access. It fails at both.

I found the conceptual overview incomprehensible, and I have read some pretty dense technical stuff and learned software from manuals. The author has a serious problem with definitions, explanations, and examples. His definitions are either inane ("A table represents a 'thing' about an organization." - basically not a definition at all) or unhelpful ("Database normalization can best be described as the process of organizing a database." - isn't everything in the book about the process of organizing a database?) or indecipherable ("The fourth normal form isolates independent multiple relationships, and the fifth normal form isolates semantically related multiple relationships." - because all "absolutely beginners" know what an independent multiple relationship or a semantically related multiple relationship is, right?).

It seems as if the author gives purposely useless definitions so that he can say, Let me explain by using an example instead. But he does not know how to explain from examples. His writing does not make clear what in the example is a universal principle and what is a specific illustration. One example moves to another without an idea of what the point of the example was. After reading and re-reading his chapter of database normalization, one of the basic conceptual principles, I had a deep urge to whip out my college writing instructor's red pen. If I did, the pages would bleed with comments like, How? Why? How does this relate to this? How does this sentence follow from the previous sentence? Unclear!

It doesn't help that the author has a lazy, annoying writing style filled with crutches like "The question is ...," "The question remains ..." "What the heck does this all mean?" Usually, we don't know why the question is being asked. We don't know why the question "remains" and wasn't answered chapters earlier. And worst of all, most of the time, the author never answers his own question! The frequent editing errors don't make

As for the chapters focusing specifically on Access, they fail due to the over-reliance on screen shots. One of the other reviewers commented that you need a magnifying glass and 20/20 vision. I actually have 20/15 vision and still cannot make out the tiny images. A magnifying glass would be of no help because it's the print quality that renders the micro-fonts illegible. How did this ever get past quality control? As others noted, you have to have Access open on a computer to even try to follow the book.

This is bad teaching, bad writing, bad editing, bad publishing, and ultimately, bad thinking. So the question remains: Does technical writing have to be so bad?

Absolute is right! - 2007-03-12
Reviewer Rating:
This is just what I was looking for, it's clear and covers the basics, the fourdational information about databases. I'm very pleased with the purchase.

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