Grokking Relational Database Design

Description

Grokking Relational Database Design.

Learn the fundamentals of relational database design with a practical, beginner-friendly approach.

Grokking Relational Database Design is an illustrated, hands-on guide that makes designing and building relational databases easy to understand—even if you’re completely new to the subject. Through clear explanations, practical examples, and interactive exercises, you’ll develop the skills needed to create efficient, scalable, and well-structured databases for real-world applications.

You’ll begin by learning the basics of Structured Query Language (SQL) before progressing to the principles of database modeling, implementation, and optimization. Along the way, you’ll design a complete database for an e-commerce application while discovering how modern generative AI tools can simplify many aspects of database development.

Inside the book, you’ll learn how to:

• Create and query relational databases using SQL.
• Design well-organized database structures from the ground up.
• Define entities, attributes, and relationships effectively.
• Reduce redundancy and improve data quality through normalization.
• Implement, optimize, and maintain efficient database designs.
• Apply generative AI to streamline database planning and design tasks.
• Improve database security, scalability, and performance.

The book explains important concepts such as choosing meaningful table and column names, organizing information efficiently, eliminating duplicate data, and following best practices for data integrity and maintenance. Complex topics are presented with straightforward language, visual illustrations, and practical projects, making database theory accessible to readers without a computer science background.

What you’ll explore:

• Database fundamentals and SQL essentials.
• Working with related tables and advanced SQL concepts.
• Planning and designing relational database structures.
• Modeling entities, attributes, and relationships.
• Applying normalization techniques to improve database quality.
• Implementing secure, high-performance database systems.
• Using generative AI to enhance modern database design workflows.

Whether you’re a self-taught programmer, software engineer, data scientist, business analyst, or anyone working with data, Grokking Relational Database Design provides the practical knowledge needed to build reliable, maintainable, and scalable relational databases with confidence.

Written by Dr. Qiang Hao and Dr. Michail Tsikerdekis, professors of Computer Science at Western Washington University, this guide combines academic expertise with practical instruction to help readers master the essential principles of modern relational database design.