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Logic and Databases: The Roots of Relational Theory

by C. J. Date

456 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-0690; ISBN 1-4251-2290-6; US$39.95, C$45.94, EUR31.15, £20.65

Databases are based on logic - right? Everybody knows that. Or do they? Chris Date's most recent book explores the myriad ways in which logic affects the database world.

About the Book

Logic and databases are inextricably intertwined. The relational model in particular is essentially just elementary predicate logic, tailored to fit the needs of database management. Now, if you're a database professional, I'm sure this isn't news to you; but you still might not realize just how much everything we do in the database world is - or should be! - affected by predicate logic. Logic is everywhere.

So if you're a database professional you really owe it to yourself to understand the basics of formal logic, and you really ought to be able to explain (and perhaps defend) the connections between formal logic and database management. And that's what this book is about. What it does is show, through a series of partly independent and partly interrelate essays, just how various crucial aspects of database technology-some of them very familiar, others maybe less so- are solidly grounded in formal logic. It is divided into five parts:

*Basic Logic
*Logic and Database Management
*Logic and Database Design
*Logic and Algebra
*Logic and the Third Manifesto

There's also a lengthy appendix, containing a collection of frequently asked questions (and some answers) on various aspects of logic and database management. Overall, my goal is to help you realize the importance of logic in everything you do, and also- I hope- to help you see that logic can be fun.

About the Author

C. J. Date is an independent author, lecturer, researcher, and consultant, specializing in relational database technology (a field he helped pioneer). He is best known for his book An Introduction to Database Systems (8th edition 2004), which has sold over 750,000 copies and is used by several hundred colleges and universities worldwide. He is also the author of many other books on relational database management, including most recently Date On Databases: Writings 2000-2006 (2006). He was inducted into the Computing Industry Hall of Fame in 2004.

Excerpts