Essence of Databases (Essence of computing)

• Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes
• Computer Science Illuminated
• Computers: from Logic to Architecture, 2nd ed.
• Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive Version
• Electrical Engineering: Principles and Applications

recommended if your starting a database course at university (and possible even A-level).

Student review, 2001-11-25
really useful if you want to have more information about Databases or if you never use Databases and SQL. this book is also a good introduction to database vocabulary.

A good study/revision guide for HNC/HND students, 1999-11-05
The book does what it sets out to do - that is it provides a concise account of database systems. It must be noted that it is one of the smallest database textbooks that I have seen. It remains concise by means of a careful selection of material - with the exception of chapter 6 (traditional database models), which in my opinion is a complete waste of time on the grounds that most of the students will never see any such DBMS's.

I was particularly pleased to see a significant set of exercises and both references and further reading for each chapter. I would have no problem recommending this book to all computing students as a study or revision guide, rather than as a main text-book. If they use this book they will have to supplement their reading - making full use of the references at the end of each chapter in the book.

Quite good, 2004-12-19
I found this book quite interesting for learning database concepts and it gives a gentle introduction to those with little or no prior knowledge of database concepts.

I found this particularly useful when revising for SQL tests and for general definitions of key database concepts .

Concise slim database book, 2007-06-21
It is unusual for a database book of this size to cover so much in a comprehensive way. Each chapter contains about 20 pages and covers an essential topic in a concise but very satisfactory way. At the end of each chapter there is suggested further reading should you need to dip into a much larger database book.

This is ideal for todays students, as the book can easily be read from cover to cover without too much effort. Despite its size the book covers topics accurately and well.