Re: Database internals

Todd Gillespie <toddg_at_linux128.ma.utexas.edu> writes:

For internals, e.g. query optimization, I think the best textbook is:

Database: Principles, Programming, and Performance, by Patrick O'Neil and Elizabeth O'Neil

Hardcover - 960 pages 2nd edition (April 28, 2000) Morgan Kaufmann Publishers; ISBN: 1558604383

Many more details can be found in research papers. Try searching http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/ As one poster noted the real secret stuff is not published.

> In comp.databases.theory Brian Peasland <peasland_at_usgs.gov> wrote:
> : How a database works internally varies from vendor to vendor. After all,
> : that's why some vendor's RDBMS software works better than other's. And
> : how a database works internally can be a closely guarded secret. If your
> : database product some task X really well, do you want your competition
> : knowin how you accomplished this? But over time, some of the internal
> : operations of a RDMBS leaks out.
>
> I try not to be antagonistic, but your post is almost
> content-free. What's the subtext here? 'Go away'?
> I, and others, visit this group for its high information content. "That's
> a secret" doesn't qualify -- it's noise.
>
> To the original poster -- there are a number of textbooks on this subject
> (and I do mean textbooks - these are not light reading). A good one,
> IMHO, is "Fundamentals of Database Systems" by Elmasri and Navathe. MK
> publishes a host of mind-numbingly detailed books on DB internals and
> transaction theory.
>
> You'll probably find the most interactive help with some OSS
> projects. There's a doc on Postgres internals _at_
> http://candle.pha.pa.us/main/writings/internals.pdf
> which was linked from:
> http://www.ca.postgresql.org/devel-corner/index.html
> There are other OSS DBs out there as well.
>
> HTH
Hopefully helpfully yours,
Steve

-- 
Steven Tolkin          steve.tolkin_at_fmr.com      617-563-0516 
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