Rating: 
Summary: A "must have" for data management professionals
Review: As one of E.F. Codd's closest associates Chris Date has long provided the world with some of the most insightful writings on the relational model of data management. Much to their proponents chagrin, he also writes incisively about the various "improvements" to the relational model.Those who are looking for a cookbook approach to any specific DBMS platform will be sorely disapointed. This book will not help you obtain your MCDBA, OCP, or any other alphabet-soup certification. However, for anyone looking for a firm foundation of data management fundamentals and the practical implications of such, this is THE book to read. Chris' style of writing tends to be a bit academic and precise. This quality does turn some folks off, but it is this quality that makes his writing so valuable. Read it, re-read it and learn this stuff! No one can seriously consider themselves a data management professional without a good grasp of the material in this book. This is the book that other authors refer to when they want to get their facts straight.
Rating:
Summary: A "must have" for data management professionals
Review: As one of E.F. Codd's closest associates Chris Date has long provided the world with some of the most insightful writings on the relational model of data management. Much to their proponents chagrin, he also writes incisively about the various "improvements" to the relational model. Those who are looking for a cookbook approach to any specific DBMS platform will be sorely disapointed. This book will not help you obtain your MCDBA, OCP, or any other alphabet-soup certification. However, for anyone looking for a firm foundation of data management fundamentals and the practical implications of such, this is THE book to read. Chris' style of writing tends to be a bit academic and precise. This quality does turn some folks off, but it is this quality that makes his writing so valuable. Read it, re-read it and learn this stuff! No one can seriously consider themselves a data management professional without a good grasp of the material in this book. This is the book that other authors refer to when they want to get their facts straight.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what the title suggests
Review: Based on the title and the price, I expected the book to be a matured (8th edition), undergraduate-level text that introduced the reader to databases, complete with color diagrams. It wasn't. After reading the first 8 chapters (250 pages) I've learned nothing of any PRACTICAL use (note that I've learned a few things, but they can't be applied directly to my job). In fact, if this were the only source on databases I'd ever read, I would be less prepared for my job than if I had simply read a "Teach Yourself ..." type book: one would be much better off with one of those books if he/she wanted an introduction to databases. And for those who appreciate the use of full-color graphics to help explain concepts, forget about it. There are only a handful of diagrams and they are black and white, simple renderings: the rest of the figures are mostly just text set off from the rest of the page. Also, it uses so called "Tutorial D" language throughout, so you have to learn it in order to follow the discussions. The book is too formal for an introduction and would lose readers not already familiar with the topic. If an "introduction" book is going to be formal and an??-retentive, it should first teach the reader the concepts by analogy or by simple example or by some other intuitive means, and only then introduce the equivalent formal discussion. This book doesn't do that. The author does know the subject, and the book does has worth...just not as an introduction to databases or as the sole means of learning about databases.
Rating:
Summary: Not what the title suggests
Review: Based on the title and the price, I expected the book to be a matured (8th edition), undergraduate-level text that introduced the reader to databases, complete with color diagrams. It wasn't. After reading the first 8 chapters (250 pages) I've learned nothing of any PRACTICAL use (note that I've learned a few things, but they can't be applied directly to my job). In fact, if this were the only source on databases I'd ever read, I would be less prepared for my job than if I had simply read a "Teach Yourself ..." type book: one would be much better off with one of those books if he/she wanted an introduction to databases. And for those who appreciate the use of full-color graphics to help explain concepts, forget about it. There are only a handful of diagrams and they are black and white, simple renderings: the rest of the figures are mostly just text set off from the rest of the page. Also, it uses so called "Tutorial D" language throughout, so you have to learn it in order to follow the discussions. The book is too formal for an introduction and would lose readers not already familiar with the topic. If an "introduction" book is going to be formal and an??-retentive, it should first teach the reader the concepts by analogy or by simple example or by some other intuitive means, and only then introduce the equivalent formal discussion. This book doesn't do that. The author does know the subject, and the book does has worth...just not as an introduction to databases or as the sole means of learning about databases.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Introduction to Databases,
Review: C J. DATE is one the most important researcher about databases, and his work is dedicated to explain in simple terms, those that in other forms will be too much difficult to understand: like real methodology of normalization or the BNF Notation, very usefull when is neccesary read the ANSI/ISO Standars, or the
Boyce/Codd Normal Form.In 1990 i read Date for the first time,
i need to review his Powerfull Introduction again, but C.J Date do not write in order to "Perform a Database Design, in 24 hours" , he write to understand, first, what really are in Database World, the semantics of data, the Codd Theory, The importance of ERD of P.Chen, he doesn't write a HelpDesignBook!
To read a Date's Book is find the core of Database Theory and is the first step to have succefull in a design process.
Rating: 
Summary: A little content of interest, but mostly a lot of fluff.
Review: Date's conversational style makes this book easy to read, which is good because there is a lot of extra reading required. Unfortunately, the content does not match the volume--surprisingly little can be gleaned from it's numerous pages. If the chapter summaries were slightly more detailed, it would be sufficient to understand the material. If you've read some of Date's other works, you won't really find anything new, as this book is significantly based on various of his previous publications. However, this is a convenient compilation, with meaningful footnotes to chapter references (some of which are by other researchers), for anyone so interested. Just don't expect to be able to apply much of what you read in any situation outside a classroom. If you're a student and have to buy this book, then just grin and bear it--many in academia consider Date an expert. If you're a DBA, there won't be anything new or meaningful for you, it's just too light-weight (remember, the title says it is an introduction)...
Rating:
Summary: A little content of interest, but mostly a lot of fluff.
Review: Date's conversational style makes this book easy to read, which is good because there is a lot of extra reading required. Unfortunately, the content does not match the volume--surprisingly little can be gleaned from it's numerous pages. If the chapter summaries were slightly more detailed, it would be sufficient to understand the material. If you've read some of Date's other works, you won't really find anything new, as this book is significantly based on various of his previous publications. However, this is a convenient compilation, with meaningful footnotes to chapter references (some of which are by other researchers), for anyone so interested. Just don't expect to be able to apply much of what you read in any situation outside a classroom. If you're a student and have to buy this book, then just grin and bear it--many in academia consider Date an expert. If you're a DBA, there won't be anything new or meaningful for you, it's just too light-weight (remember, the title says it is an introduction)...
Rating:
Summary: A classic, to be read by any serious developer
Review: Date's seminal work is critical to understanding databases - a step mostly forgotten by those who believe every concept can be taught using commercial products with brain-dead examples in under 24 hours. Date teaches the logic and theory that underlie all successful practice. You can probably buy a different book and create a mock database faster, but you will neither understand nor be able to use it well. Do yourself a favor and read this first to understand what a database is; only then can you judge the value of other books.
Rating: 
Summary: Best theoretical book on Database design ever!
Review: I read this book for training as a senior DBA consultant and enjoyed CJ Date's excellent treatise on databases. This is the ultimate book on database theory. Like another reader commented its not how to get OCP/MCDBA whatever certifications but actually will make life better in the long run as a serious DBA pro. I now actually understand the basis of complex database topics such as cursors, data models, and concurrency/locking topics that previously are skimmed over in other books and training guides. Best book for a beginner and yeah its a bit dry and academic but CJ Date writes clearly. A MUST FOR SERIOUS COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENTS!
Rating:
Summary: An Introduction for Software Engineers, not Users
Review: Sorry, no full-color graphics, and no included disk full of fill-in-the-blank examples and wizards to build your contact list. This is an old-fashioned academic tome, not a how-to book or thinly-disguised marketing tool for some commercial database system. I suppose the biggest criticism I could make of this book is that it overestimates the target audience. Unfortunately, many who see the title of this book assume that it will teach them how to work with current database products such as Oracle, or maybe SQL Server and Access. No, this book doesn't show you how to create an invoicing system for your bicycle shop, or a web content management system. What it will show you is the conceptual underpinning of the relational data model, how to understand relational database systems in general (not everything is SQL, you know), and provide some heavy insight into how relational databases should be designed. In that sense, it can be considered an "introductory" book for software engineers, who might themselves create a new database management system. It can also be considered introductory for database administrators and systems programmers who are looking to expand their knowledge beyond the product-specific practical methods they have been exposed to. In other words, if you just want to know "how things are done" in your industry, don't read this book. If you want some insights into how things COULD be done much better, you might want to read this book. So, while I might not recommend this book to a junior programmer tasked with creating his/her first web-based ordering system, I might recommend it to the company DBA or systems architect. Even more, I would recommend this book to anyone studying C/C++, and looking to start a career in software engineering, possibly to help create new database systems. This book doesn't discuss specific implementation in C++ or anything like that but it provides an excellent target feature set and language spec for development, as well as a clarification of the formal logic behind relational database management.
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