General Approach

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My approach to database application design may differ from what you've seen in other books. Rather than go into a long discourse on the intricacies of modern database theory, I'd prefer to be more pragmaticmore practical. I don't think discussing the fine details of Dr. Codd's historic paper, "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks," or the mathematics behind database normalization would be terribly beneficial or even appropriate in a book like this. There are plenty of books out there already that cover those subjects in depth. Instead, I'll focus my attention on helping you design and build real databases. We'll begin with a solid theoretical foundation, then move on to exploring how to apply theoretical concepts in real applications.

One of the most difficult things about writing technical books is the need to balance theory with how-to information. If a book leans too much to the pragmatic side of things, it becomes a glorified manual. It attempts to answer the How without addressing the Why. On the other hand, if a book is bent too much on abstract concepts, it can fail to be useful from a practical standpoint. People usually buy computer books to learn how to do something. Books that fail to teach anything of practical value are of limited use to the average practitioner.

The ideal place to be, then, is somewhere between the two. This is a goal I've attempted to achieve in this book in general and in this chapter in particular. Although I discuss how to use specific types of tools in designing databases and the like, I also try to give you a solid theoretical foundation on which to base the practical information you're learning. Hopefully, you'll find both Why and How addressed adequately.

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