An Introduction to Database Design

  • This is a good refreshing article.Many dont know the basic of DB and I think this should start beginner up for great database career

  • This is very refreshing as an article. Many need to know the basic This will start up many interested beginners into database

    career.

  • Great article overall.

    I respectfully disagree with this statement, "Bob quickly found himself preferring the SELECT, JOIN, and WHERE syntax over the designer" even as a professional database admin\developer I find I sometimes prefer the designer for simplifying complicated joins or even when I just don't feel like typing out table and field names over and over.

  • krowley (1/11/2013)


    Great article overall.

    I respectfully disagree with this statement, "Bob quickly found himself preferring the SELECT, JOIN, and WHERE syntax over the designer" even as a professional database admin\developer I find I sometimes prefer the designer for simplifying complicated joins or even when I just don't feel like typing out table and field names over and over.

    Intellisense makes short work of that typing. You can click and drag table names and field names from the Object Explorer into your queries and if you're typing, intellisense will complete the field names for you, making that much easier as well. In the end you have a much more readable query than anything put together by the designer and you can comment it as well.

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    When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
    --------------------------------------
    It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
    What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
    You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams

  • I need to figure out how to setup my SQL Server Management Studio to do intelisense then.

    I have the management studio for SQL Server 2008 R2 installed but the database server is only running 2005 and the databases are mostly in 2000 compatibility mode. Does this make a difference?

    Intelisense seems to work on my home computer with the same version of management studio, but I am working with 2008 version databases there.

  • Excellent article overall.

    These are extremely difficult concepts to introduce to people, and the article does a superb job of making the ideas accessible to anyone.

    That[/i] should get Bob's attention.]

    SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) A socialist is someone who will give you the shirt off *someone else's* back.

  • I wish I could make views keep my code formatting. Is there any way to do that?

  • Did the author ever write any followup articles? If so could you point me to them? This tutorial was originally published in January of 2011.

  • krowley (1/11/2013)


    I need to figure out how to setup my SQL Server Management Studio to do intelisense then.

    I have the management studio for SQL Server 2008 R2 installed but the database server is only running 2005 and the databases are mostly in 2000 compatibility mode. Does this make a difference?

    Intelisense seems to work on my home computer with the same version of management studio, but I am working with 2008 version databases there.

    It should work with the 2005, but maybe not with the 2000. Clicking and dragging will work with either.

    One fun trick: Type SELECT and a space and then clock on the Columns folder under the table name and drag that to after SELECT. All the columns will be written out for you. A great way to replace * in production code.

    --------------------------------------
    When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
    --------------------------------------
    It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
    What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
    You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams

  • krowley (1/11/2013)


    Did the author ever write any followup articles? If so could you point me to them? This tutorial was originally published in January of 2011.

    Click on the author's name in the byline of the article. It will show you everything the author has written here.

    --------------------------------------
    When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
    --------------------------------------
    It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
    What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
    You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams

  • krowley (1/11/2013)


    Did the author ever write any followup articles? If so could you point me to them? This tutorial was originally published in January of 2011.

    Not yet. Feel free to bother him :w00t:

  • Stefan Krzywicki (1/11/2013)


    krowley (1/11/2013)


    I need to figure out how to setup my SQL Server Management Studio to do intelisense then.

    It should work with the 2005, but maybe not with the 2000.

    It will only work against SQL Server 2008 (and later) databases.

  • Paul,

    A great introduction to the topic, thank you. I'm curious: is there a follow-up planned?

    Things I liked were that you related the process of the design to solving a "real world" issue (although this did drop off, which I thought was a shame). You also skipped some of the more complex issues (natural versus surrogate keys springs to mind) which I personally thought was a good choice: it's far more important to get the concept of keys in place first.

    I did find the whole Alice+Bob narration style a little trite... however, that style may work well for the intended audience, which I am well aware is not myself!

    All-in-all, I felt it was an excellent introduction, and that you pitched it at exactly the right level; if anything, I felt you introduced a few rules very early that I would have put off for later, so kudos for you there!

    Now, about that follow-up...

  • Bruce W Cassidy (1/11/2013)


    Stefan Krzywicki (1/11/2013)


    krowley (1/11/2013)


    I need to figure out how to setup my SQL Server Management Studio to do intelisense then.

    It should work with the 2005, but maybe not with the 2000.

    It will only work against SQL Server 2008 (and later) databases.

    Ok. That's a shame.

    I can't upgrade to a later compatibility mode because the developers of the third party application used =* for a LOT of joins and I would have to go back and fix all of these myself which I don't have the time to do at the moment.

  • Fantastic article. This is probably the simplest explanation of practical normalization I have read in a long time.

    ---
    Timothy A Wiseman
    SQL Blog: http://timothyawiseman.wordpress.com/

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