Books Database Design for Mere Mortals: 25th Anniversary by Michael J Hernandez (Author), Michael Hernandez

"Database Design for Mere Mortals: 25th Anniversary" by Michael J. Hernandez is widely regarded as one of the clearest and most accessible guides to relational database design. The book focuses strictly on the logical design phase of database development, offering a commonsense, hands-on approach without overwhelming technical jargon or software-specific implementation details.

Key points include:

A step-by-step methodology for designing well-structured, reliable, and flexible relational databases.

Guidance on defining tables, fields, keys (primary, candidate, alternate), and table relationships (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many).

Emphasis on establishing data integrity and business rules to ensure the database consistently represents real-world information accurately.

Strategies for analyzing existing databases to identify improvements.

Instructions on setting field specifications to control data quality.

The book separates logical design from physical implementation, promoting conscious, informed decisions before applying the design in any database software.

It uses simple, generic examples to make concepts applicable across industries and database platforms.

The 25th Anniversary edition includes updates reflecting modern database applications and best practices.