Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!mtxinu!sybase!binky!tim From: tim@binky.sybase.com (Tim Wood) Newsgroups: comp.databases Subject: Re: Wanted-- database introductory book Message-ID: <6154@sybase.sybase.com> Date: 20 Sep 89 19:31:28 GMT References: <1583@ruuinf.cs.ruu.nl> <89262.133555UH2@PSUVM.BITNET> Sender: news@sybase.sybase.com Reply-To: tim@binky.UUCP (Tim Wood) Distribution: usa Organization: Sybase, Inc. Lines: 27 In article <89262.133555UH2@PSUVM.BITNET> UH2@PSUVM.BITNET (Lee Sailer) writes: >On the topic of good intro books, be aware that there are at least three >distinct *types* of book. > >1. The Computer Science book (e.g. Ullman). The book you want to read if >you plan to build a new database system, that is, you want to compete against >Oracle, Unify, DB2, etc. > If you plan to build a new database system to compete against the above companies plus Sybase, RTI, Interbase, Informix, etc. etc. you'll need more than the book. You'll need about $100 million, minimum. You'll also need several dozen person-years of expertise, which you won't gain by reading the book. Because confusion over a plethora of choices and sharpening competition, this industry is moving toward fewer players, not more. The best strategy is to become an expert user; there will be lots of demand for people who know how to build applications for high-powered RDBMSs. Studying books is a great place to start for this. It helps give one the theoretical grounding needed to design applications in a data- and database-independent way. -TW Sybase, Inc. / 6475 Christie Ave. / Emeryville, CA / 94608 415-596-3500 tim@sybase.com {pacbell,pyramid,sun,{uunet,ucbvax}!mtxinu}!sybase!tim Voluntary disclaimer: This message is solely my personal opinion. It is not a representation of Sybase, Inc. OK.