Learn Database Design

Preface

Almost every organization runs on data: customer records, orders, inventory, personnel files. That data is stored in databases, and the quality of a database stands or falls with its design. A poorly designed database leads to duplicate data, contradictory information, and reports you cannot trust. A well-designed database is reliable, consistent, and easy to extend.

This textbook is written for students of business administration, economics, and other non-IT programs in higher education. You don’t need to become a programmer to understand how a good database is put together. But at some point in your career you will almost certainly find yourself helping to shape an information system, setting up a small database yourself, or translating the needs of your department into a design.

After working through this book, you will:

• know what a well-designed relational database requires;
• be able to design a database using an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD);
• be able to derive and check a design step by step using normalization;
• be able to read and understand a design made by an expert, and so act as a full-fledged discussion partner.

That last point matters. Designing large, complex, or business-critical databases is skilled work best left to specialists. But a specialist can only produce a good design if the people who know the organization can clearly explain what is needed and take a critical look at the proposal. This book prepares you for that role.

This book is about design only. Actually building a database in software such as Access or SQLite is not covered here.

The emphasis is on doing it yourself. Through exercises and assignments you will design a number of databases of modest complexity, using both ERDs and normalization. It is by doing it yourself that you truly master the way of thinking behind a good design.

Good luck, and enjoy designing!

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About the author

I studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Twente. After teaching chemistry and mathematics at secondary schools for a several years, I began teaching informatics and statistics at Saxion University of Applied Sciences. From there, I transitioned internally to MeetingPoint, which focused on developing and supporting e-learning. In 1993 I founded Softwijs, which I closed at the end of 2018.

Since my retirement, I’ve enjoyed my hobbies: billiards, bridge, brewing beer, baking bread, and traveling (especially with my camper and bike). In addition to creating textbooks, I also spend time exploring data analysis, particularly with R and to a lesser extent with Python.

Ben Welman

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