Includes bibliographical references (p. 697-726) and index.

Introduction to database systems; introduction to relational models; storing data - disks and files; introduction to file organization; tree-structured indexing; hash-based indexing; external sorting; relational algebra and calculus; SQL - the query language; creating and modifying relations in SQL; security and views; query-by-example (QBE); implementation of relational operations; relational query optimization; conceptual database design and the ER model; schema refinement and normal forms for relations; physical database design and tuning; concurrency control; crash recovery and transaction rollback; parallel and distributed databases; deductive and active databases; object-oriented and object-relational databases; decision support - data warehousing, OLAP and data mining.

This introductory database text uses a hands-on approach to relational database systems, and emphasizes both conceptual and physical database design and tuning. It also covers advanced topics which can be used for a second course on databases.