Rating: 
Summary: Great introductory but not reference level book
Review: I bought this book as a requirement for a DB class. I am an extremely detail-oriented person, so take that into account, but while it always gives sufficient information to tell you about a subject, it does not always give enough information to allow you to synthesize on your own. Example is the section on relational calculus, which gives a very firm overview of what it is, but doesn't necessarily give enough info to be able to construct all of your own forms. I bought the Elmasri/Navathe book as a supplement, and the two together form a much better source. Elmasri sometimes uses a simpler syntax, but the explanation is more complete. Elmasri/Navathe's treatment of normalization is far more complete, also.
Rating:
Summary: Good for practicing database programmer
Review: I found 4th edition of this book quite informative for a database programmer. It discusses how database works internally. It includes topics on data storage, B Tree, query processing, query optimization, parallel database, distributed database, web databases etc. However, the language should have been more comprehensive. Examples should be more.
Rating: 
Summary: This is an excellent book - but it is difficult
Review: I had this book for an intro to databases classe, and I have to agree that the material presented within is challenging; however, that doesn't mean that the book is bad - working with databases (outside of small academic projects) is very challenging. Most of the database developers that I work with have a BS or MS in CS as well as about 10 -15 years experience. When I began working with Oracle in an employment situation with a complex schema - my appreciation for this book and the theories presented within grew enormously. If nothing else, you'll at least be able to speak intelligently about database related issues with your future (or current) co-workers.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs Revising...
Review: I have been reading this book as a student and find that it is a very difficult book to read. The author really doesn't give you that may examples, just words. You almost have to guess where the author is going with examples. Sometimes he gives you a lot, other times he gives you none. I also think he goes overboard in trying to teach you all the background stuff of the queries. My instructor started having us read it, then skipped the chapter and went on. I don't think the author of this book really planned out what he was going to include in the book, its almost liking throwing a bunch of things into the pot to see what comes out of it. It could have been structured a lot better than what it is. He does try and teach you about E-R Modeling, but don't plan on any real examples. The ones he gives are either too basic or too complex, and there really isn't any explanation of the ones he does show you. It basically just leaves you hanging. You might as well plan on just taking a nap instead of reading this book. It is very hard to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Ground Up Knowledge
Review: I read some of the reviews here. The comments varies from a good book to a worthless one. If you are really interested in making a career out of databases, then this is a book you got to read. An analogy that comes to mind is "You got to have a strong foundation to build a sky craper". This is exactly what this book is. It helps you build a strong foundation. I got hold of this book when I was in my 4th Semester of my BS in computer science (1994 - 2nd Edition of this book) to clear my Database concepts exam. Ever since, whenever I feel I might not have understood some concept, I go back to this book. One thing you got to understand is, its not a book that you can just read through and tell people that you have understood the concepts. You need to work the book. Rgds,
Naveen
IBM DB2 UDB Certified Specialist.
Rating:
Summary: I want review it to improve my study in computer science
Review: I want to review the chapter2 and chapter3
Rating: 
Summary: For a database student... this was BAD!!
Review: I've never felt compelled to write a review prior to this... in fact, this isn't so much a review as it is a warning: If you are a new student to databases and you see this book as the one your class will be using... RUN and drop the course as fast as you can!! This book was nothing but frustration for me: index is woefully inadequate (I gave up trying to look up terms that I'd learned earlier in the book when it came time to refresh my memory of them); examples were very unorganized (my book was filled with page markers trying to keep track of database relations, attributes, etc in order to try and follow example reasoning... the few times such reasoning was given.) I tried supplementing the text with the web site that is available but became even more frustrated trying to wade through book material as well as related material from the web site (Why not put all that material from the website into the book?!?) There is so much wrong with this book that I'm getting angry just thinking about it! This is a prime example of one of the things wrong with our education system... people can charge outlandish prices for textbooks but they are completely unaccountable their product. I was suprised to see this was a 4th edition... usually by this go round things have been spiffed up a bit!! Sorry this is not a very concise review but all I can really say is don't buy it... don't take a class that uses it! I'm amazed that some of the previous reviews advocated it?!?
Rating:
Summary: Worthless
Review: I've read both this one and "DATABASE SYSTEMS: A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, AND MANAGEMENT" (Connolly/Begg), and the latter is by far the best. Some ideas that takes a few seconds to grasp Connollys book, took me about a half an hour to grasp in this one (which I noticed when I tried to refresh my memory). The reason is that it is written in a sometimes incredibly difficult and complex way. Why? For no good reason at all, as far as I can see. The descriptions are not any more "rigorous" or "exact", they are just difficult without gaining anything. The ideas are the same. Avoid it, unless you want to waste you time with a book that makes learning 10 times slower than with a good one.
Rating: 
Summary: Dis is good fer all ya technies!!
Review: It isn't a bad book, and I've to agreed that you do not need any prior database concepts to learn it....however I think some prior programming concepts might be of help...This book was used as the textbook of a database design course at the University of Illinois at Chicago(UIC). The students that took the courses has a business background, not a technical one; but because of that, most of them had trouble understanding the book and end up focusing more on the professor's notes. However, I do believe it is a good book for those who wants to go into details about databases.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been a lot better if they put more effort
Review: providing more detail on certain very important topics like Tuple Relational Calculus and also spend a lot more time going into more detail of creating more complex queries. These are the topics I was really looking forward too. But that being said theres so much information in this book its defiintely worth the price. Also they could simplify the language a bit when talking about complex topics optimization techniques used by the engine and some aspects of file organization.
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