Recent Developments in Database Technology: Type Inheritance and Temporal Data

A 3 Day Seminar

Speaker:

Chris Date

"Really helped me understand current trends and problems in the DB world - Thanks"

"THANK YOU! Chris Date has earned his icon status. His style is very approachable even while presenting complex concepts"

"Excellent course - best I have ever attended. The material was very relevant and exciting to me. Thanks for all the effort you put into this course"

"I wish there was more time to go into more detail. A great class! We need more classes like this."


This seminar takes an in-depth look at two important new developments in the field of data and database management: type inheritance and temporal data. The overall objective in both cases is to provide a careful explanation of the foundations of the technology in question; thus, the primary focus throughout is on concepts, principles, and theory, rather than on commercial products. However, practical implications are of course discussed wherever appropriate.


The seminar is aimed primarily at technical specialists, not managers, though managers should benefit from it too (most of the technical material needed to understand the overall message is included in the seminar itself). Attendees will be expected to be professionally interested in database management. Thus, the target audience includes (but is not limited to):

Prior attendance at the seminar Relational Remodelled is highly recommended.


On completion of this seminar, attendees will:

Part I: Type Inheritance

The concepts of subtyping and type inheritance have been around for many years (especially in the object world); indeed, languages and products supporting those concepts, in one form or another, have also been available in the marketplace for some considerable time. Yet there is no consensus on any well-defined (i.e., formal, abstract, robust, and rigorous) model of inheritance with the consequence that those existing languages and products are all ad hoc to a degree, and they all exhibit surprising (and indeed undesirable) behaviour on occasion. By contrast, Part I of this seminar presents a model of inheritance that certainly is "formal, abstract, robust, and rigorous" (and not ad hoc)i.e., one that does not suffer from the shortcomings of previous approaches.

1. Basic Concepts

2. Some Implications of these Ideas

3. Some Questions

4. Additional Topics

Part II: Temporal Data

Thanks to the ever-decreasing cost of storage and the advent of data warehouse technology, the idea of maintaining historical data has become not just a goal but a reality for many organizations. As a consequence, the ability to deal properly with the time dimension is becoming increasingly important. Yet today's database management systems offer absolutely nothing to help with this important requirement. What is more, the research community has largely failed in this regard as well. Help is on its way, however. The second part of this seminar describes an approach to the problem that looks set to address the (surprisingly complicated!) issue of proper support for temporal databases - an approach that, let it be said immediately, fits squarely into the classical relational framework.

1. A Review of Relational Concepts

2. Laying the Foundations

3. Building on the Foundations


Relational Remodelled
Speaker: Chris Date
Dates: 17-18 March 2003 Location: London
Register for both Chris Date events taking place during the week of 17 March 2003 and save £250

Chris Date

Chris Date
C. J. Date is an independent author, lecturer, researcher, and consultant, specializing in relational database technology. He is best known for his book An Introduction to Database Systems (seventh edition published in 2000), which has sold well over 650,000 copies and is used by several hundred colleges and universities worldwide. He is also the author of many other books on database management, including most recently Foundation for Future Database Systems: The Third Manifesto (2nd edition, coauthored with Hugh Darwen); The Database Relational Model: A Retrospective Review and Analysis; WHAT Not HOW: The Business Rules Approach to Application Development (all published by Addison-Wesley in 2000); and Temporal Data and the Relational Model (coauthored with Hugh Darwen and Nikos A. Lorentzos, published by Morgan Kaufmann in 2003). Mr. Date enjoys a reputation that is second to none for his ability to communicate complex technical subjects in a clear and understandable fashion.

© Copyright IRM UK Strategic IT Training, Bishops Walk House, High Street, Pinner HA5 5PJ UK, Tel +44 (0)20 8866 8366, Fax +44 (0)20 8866 7966, enquiries@irmuk.co.uk, www.irmuk.co.uk.