[Gllug] Introductions to Databases

[John Levin]

Ryan Cartwright wrote:
> 2009/7/14 John Levin <john at technolalia.org>:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I need - and want - to learn about databases, and am looking for a
>> decent introductory text about them. Something general, not an
>> instruction manual, nor about a specific application. Perhaps a history
>> of their development. Any recommendations?
> 
> "Databases" is a huge subject with very wide scope. It might be better
> if you have a think about what sort of database is driving this need.
> So if you require a simple desktop database for a single user, your
> learning curve will differ (to start with) than if you are branching
> out into client-server types. If you are looking for a more general
> background intriduction for now, then have a look at Wikibooks DBMS
> entry[1]. But honestly it'll be easier if you figure out what kind of
> database you need to learn about before embarking on the mamoth task
> of "learning databases". ;)
> 
> HTH
> [1] http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Design_of_Main_Memory_Database_System/Introduction

Thanks for that, and the reference.

My main concern is to get an overview of what this field is all about; 
and then make sure I learn transferable skills, not get stuck on one 
particular database. I'm bearing in mind the saying "Learn Ubuntu/ 
Mandriva/ $distro and you'll know $distro; learn slackware and you'll 
learn linux." Perhaps the parallel doesn't work with databases?

As for needs, I have two currently: using MySQL with websites (it's 
mandatory for a number of CMSes I use, but I also have need of using 
website database withouta CMS), and a personal database for tabulating 
research data (for which I might set up something with apache, but I do 
get people asking me the OpenOffice base.)

Thanks to everyone else who's replied so far as well!

John

-- 
John Levin
http://www.technolalia.org/blog/
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