PART 1
Introduction to Databases and Database Design
The chapters in this part of the book provide background that is useful when studying database design.
Chapter 1 explains the reasons why database design is important. It discusses the goals that you should keep in mind while designing databases. If you keep those goals in mind, then you can stay focused on the end result and not become bogged down in the minutiae of technical details. If you understand those goals, then you will also know when it might be useful to bend the rules a bit.
Chapter 2 provides background on relational databases. It explains common relational database terms and concepts that you need to understand for the chapters that follow. You won’t get as much out of the rest of the book if you don’t understand the terminology.
Chapter 3 describes NoSQL databases. While this book (and most other database books) focuses on relational databases, there are other kinds of databases that are better suited to some tasks. NoSQL databases provide some alternatives that may work better for you under certain circumstances. (I once worked on a 40-developer project that failed largely because it used the wrong kind of database. Don’t let that happen to you!)
Even if you’re somewhat familiar with databases, give these chapters at least a quick glance to ensure that you don’t miss anything important. Pay particular attention to the terms described in Chapter 2, because you’ll need to know them later.