This book is not an easy read, but you will have a great understanding of mathematics as it relates to database design by the end.

We’ll introduce you to a mathematical methodology that enables you to deal with database designs in a clear way. Those of you who have had a formal education in mathematics will most likely enjoy reading this book. It demonstrates how you can apply two mathematical disciplines—logic and set theory—to your current profession.

For those of you who lack a formal education in mathematics, you’ll have to put in an effort when reading this book. We do our best to explain all material in a clear way and provide sufficient examples along the way. Nevertheless, there is a lot of new material for you to digest.

We assume that you are familiar with designing a database. This book will not teach you how to design databases; more specifically, this book will not explain what makes a database design a good one or a bad one. This book’s primary goal is to teach you a formal methodology for specifying a database design; in particular, for specifying all involved data integrity constraints in a clear and unambiguous manner.

This book is a must for every IT professional who is involved in any way with designing databases:

• Database designers, data architects, and data administrators
• Application developers with database design responsibilities
• Database administrators with database design responsibilities
• IT architects
• People managing teams that include any of the preceding roles

We wrote this book because we are convinced that the mode of thought required by this formal methodology will—as an important side effect—contribute to your database design capabilities. Understanding this formal methodology will benefit you, the database professional, and will in the end make you a better database designer.