Sebastopol, CA--One of the more enduring debates among chess players revolves around the value of strategy versus tactics. New players quickly discover that losing a significant number of pieces is tantamount to losing the game, therefore--since authorities equate the losing of pieces with chess tactics--novices are often taught to emphasize tactics over strategy. To a new player, it doesn't matter how strategically you've positioned your knight on d6 if you inadvertently lose your queen on the next move. But in fact, no matter how well their respective values are argued, strategy and tactics are closely interwoven: a good strategy assumes the existence of a set of sound tactics. You need both in order to play well.
Java database programming, like chess, is a blend of well-conceived strategy supported by strong, underlying tactical choices. Until recently, the choices were limited. If you wanted to access a database in Java, you used JDBC. Today, Java programmers can choose among a multitude of APIs and technologies--EJB, JDO, JDBC, SQL, RDBMS, OODMBS. In his new book, Java Database Best Practices (O'Reilly, US $39.95), author George Reese explains the different approaches to database programming, helps developers assess what approaches fit which problems, and provides insights into what the best practices are under each model. In short, he describes the best practices--both strategic and tactical--for using a database to drive a variety of Java application architectures.
"Java is now established as 'the' language for server-side programming," says Reese. "The choices a developer faces regarding which paradigms best suit different database programming problems can overwhelm programmers and architects. Nothing currently exists on the market to help technologists choose among the different database programming paradigms. This book is timely because it helps in that decision-making process. It also helps people execute on their database programming decisions."
"Java Database Best Practices" spares developers from having to wade through documentation on each of the various APIs as they try to determine which method to use. This comprehensive guide introduces each of the dominant APIs (Enterprise JavaBeans, Java Data Objects, the Java Database Connectivity API, as well as other, lesser-known options), explores the methodology and design components that use those APIs, and then offers practices most appropriate for different types and makes of databases, as well as different types of applications.
The book also examines database design, from table and database architecture to normalization, and offers a number of best practices for handling these tasks. Java developers will learn how to move through the various forms of normalization, understand the question of when to denormalize, and even get detailed instructions on optimizing their SQL queries to make the best use of their database structure. Through it all, "Java Database Best Practices" focuses on practical application of these techniques, providing information that can immediately be applied to the reader's own enterprise application.
"'Java Database Best Practices' reflects the further maturation of Java as a server-side language," Reese notes. "People have moved beyond the need to simply learn APIs. They are instead looking for the best ways to apply those APIs in complex business systems. This book will help them with that."
Additional Resources:
Java Database Best Practices
George Reese
ISBN 0-596-00522-9, 267 pages, $39.95 (US), $61.95 (CAN), 28.50 (UK)
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