Database Design Books

A few days ago a friend of mine asked for some books I could recommend about developing databases. This is my personal list based on personal likes – to be extra clear, this is not an endorsement from my employer.

  1. An Introduction to Database Systems, by C.J. Date. A great book that covers all sorts of topics on how to think about databases - essential stuff, in my opinion.
  2. Inside SQL Server (2000 or 2005, both great). Great in-depth discussion of how a real DBMS works.
  3. Books Online. OK, so this isn’t a “real” book, in the sense that it doesn't require killing trees. While going through all topics will certainly take some time, there is a lot of good information to be found, especially to discover options and considerations to bear in mind as you go. That is, you won’t necessarily need to know the information that’s there, but it’s great to have somewhere in the back of your mind the knowledge that the information exists.

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