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Off-the-Shelf Education

By Larry O'Brien

May 1, 2007 — (Page 1 of 2)
I normally leave my summer reading column until June, but between global warming and some exceptional offerings from the publishing companies, the time seems ripe to suggest some books to accompany you to the beach. In the interest of full disclosure, I should state that I’m friends with several of the authors whose works I’m recommending.

I’ve already written in this column about my favorite book of last year, “Refactoring Databases” by Scott Ambler and Pramod Sadlage. Along with Ambler’s “Agile Database Techniques,” this book brings database development into the change-embracing, unit-tested 21st century.

Manipulating relational databases stands in complex relationship to manipulating text-based source code and “regular” software development. On the one hand, relational theory is a vastly more stable foundation than mainstream programming paradigms; even the most recalcitrant corporations understand the value of their data stores; and database servers are tremendously sophisticated tools. On the other hand, programming databases, whether manipulating data or table structures, is rarely treated with the same kind of respect that we give to compiled code; there’s often an assumption that the database will somehow be trivially derived to suit the needs of the “real code,” or perhaps, that a tyrannical DBA is forcing compromises on an otherwise pristine design.

In truth, databases in the real world scream for refactoring and unit-testing, and either slavish devotion to or callous disregard for existing database structure is among the most common mistakes I see. (Just this morning, I spent an hour and three-quarters in a design meeting that centered around this very problem.) These two books plainly and simply saved my butt in a big project last year, and I think it’s a rare bookshelf where they won’t find a permanent spot.

Whatever book you may have used previously for “the one book about OOA&D to have if you’re having only one,” you may well want to retire it in favor of “Head-First Object-Oriented Analysis & Design” by Brett McLaughlin, Gary Pollice and David West. I’ve not been the biggest fan of the “Head-First” series. The graphically busy design of these texts and their multimodal approaches to learning are definitely in keeping with modern pedagogy, but I’m not at all convinced that this is necessarily the best way to learn, for instance, a programming language.

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