Friday, August 20, 2010

Star Schema: The Complete Reference

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Chris Adamson's definitive guide to dimensional design is now available.

Use these links to order from Amazon in your country:


About the Book

This handbook is organized around dimensional design topics rather than vertical industry, so you can find what you need when you need it.

Architecture-neutral, the book’s practical advice can be put to use in any type of data warehouse, including those advocated by W.H. Inmon and Ralph Kimball.

For each design topic, coverage runs deep.  You will learn best practices along with the reasons behind them.  Each concept is explained through real-world examples.  There are over 175 illustrations, including example design diagrams and data instance charts.

The book explains the impact of design choices on BI and ETL processes, and explores situations where you may wish to deviate from best practices.

It provides a comprehensive set of design tasks and deliverables that can be incorporated into any project, regardless of architecture, scope or methodology.

To learn more, see the FAQ.

Contents of the Book

Coverage beings with fundamentals, then follows a logical progression through advanced topics that address real-world complexity. Beginners can read it cover-to-cover, while experts can jump straight to topics of interest.

The book's eighteen chapters are divided into six parts:

      Part I: Fundamentals

      1.  Analytic Databases and Dimensional Design
      2.  Data Warehouse Architectures
      3.  Stars and Cubes

      Part II: Multiple Stars

      4.  A Fact Table for Each Process
      5.  Conformed Dimensions

      Part III: Dimension Design

      6.  More On Dimension Tables
      7.  Hierarchies and Snowflakes
      8.  More Slow Change Techniques
      9.  Multi-Valued Dimensions and Bridges
      10.  Recursive Hierarchies and Bridges

      Part IV: Fact Table Design

      11. Transactions, Snapshots and Accumulating Snapshots
      12. Factless Fact Tables
      13. Type-Specific Stars

      Part V: Performance

      14. Derived Schemas
      15. Aggregates

      Part VI: Tools and Documentation

      16.  Design and Business Intelligence
      17.  Design and ETL
      18.  How to Design and Document a Dimensional Model

How to Order

If you’ve enjoyed Chris's other books, classes, or this blog, please consider supporting this effort.

Use these links to order from Amazon in your country:


 For more info, visit the FAQ on the book.


Star Schema: The Complete Reference
By Christopher Adamson
ISBN 0071744320 / 9780071744324
McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
486 pages
Also available as eBook
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