Book excerpt: The study of relationship databases is a core component of virtually every undergraduate computer science degree course. This new edition of Theory and Practice of Relationship Databases retains all the features that made the previous edition such as success, and goes on to give even more comprehensive and informative coverage. Written in a tutorial style and containing a great many examples and exercises as well as extensively using illustrative and explanatory graphics, the author has produced an undergraduate textbook of great depth and clarity that is very easy to follow. The subject of relational databases is brought to life by the writing style and the inclusion of an homogenous case study that reinforces the issues dealt with in each chapter. The primary objective of the book is to present a comprehensive explanation of the process of development of database application systems within the framework of a set processing paradigm. Since the majority of these applications are built as relationship systems, a complete though reasonably concise account of that model is presented. Dr. Stanczyk has achieved this by concentrating on the issues that contribute significantly to the application development while de-emphasizing purely theoretical aspects of the subject. This has led to an imaginative and highly practical textbook that will be an excellent read for the undergraduate computer science student.