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Developing client/server applications
Inmon W. (ed), QED Information Sciences, Inc., Wellesley, MA, 1991. Type: Book (9780894353895)
Date Reviewed: Jun 1 1992

The objective of this book is admirable--to counter, as the author says, the offhand approach to building client/server systems. As he points out in the preface, such systems are deceptively simple in appearance but have the potential over time to wreak havoc on the organizations that use them because of poor planning, haphazard modifications, and the lack of architectural principles.

The book is not technology-dependent, but seeks to offer methodological solutions to designing, installing, and operating client/server systems. The author claims the book is for developers, programmers, database designers, managers, database administrators, data administrators, designers, and students of computer science. This attempt to capture such a broad audience in only 199 pages results in a work that is uneven in its coverage and depth. Some simple concepts are explained at length, while the reader is assumed to fully understand others that are more complex. To a great extent, the work lacks editing (the word “produce” appears instead of “product,” “desk” instead of “disk”). These corrections might be obvious to some but are confusing to the less knowledgeable, and the reader should not have to make them at all.

Among the basic explanations offered is the description in chapter 1 of the differences between client/server and mainframe systems. The concepts of DSS, operational processing, and autonomy versus integration are clearly documented and well illustrated. These serve as a necessary foundation for the remaining nine chapters.

Chapter 2 explains client/server issues, and it too is well done. Besides cost and control, the author discusses the issues surrounding data ownership, operational discipline, system of record, current value data versus archival data, and node residency. He concludes the chapter with some comments on the systems development life cycle and how DSS systems are better served by reversing the classical life cycle steps. He expands on this notion in chapter 7.

Chapter 3 deals with the system of record and how it differs under operation processing and DSS processing. The author continues to provide good sample problems and then solve them. The combination of articulate text and simple illustrations makes the chapter easy to understand. This chapter contains some confusions caused by editorial lapses, however.

Sample configurations and their tradeoffs are the focus of chapter 4. Performance issues are addressed in chapter 5. It is here that the unevenness of the level of explanation becomes apparent. Up to this point the book is elementary and the concepts are thoroughly explained. In chapter 5 the author assumes a level of knowledge that may be inappropriate. On page 79 he brings up the concept of normalization, and the next several pages discuss its importance to client/server applications. The explanation is at a much higher level, however, and the examples and their supporting figures are much too general for the novice reader. What is required is a fuller example of the whole process leading up to Figures 5.10 and 5.11. Overall, however, the chapter could be a useful guide for a data administrator.

Chapter 6, on metadata, is another uneven yet worthwhile effort. The explanation of metadata ranges from basic to assuming too much on the reader’s part. Pages 97 and 98 contain a lot of unexplained terms, while pages 99 and 100 contain a well-done example.

Development methodologies for both types of client/server systems are adequately described in chapter 7. What is needed is a major example flowing through the entire explanation. Chapter 8 deals with database design issues. Here, too, the discussion of data relationships is fine for the experienced reader, but the novice does not get the needed detail.

Chapters 9 and 10 are brief comments on program design and administration of the client/server environment. The book concludes with a brief appendix on mainframe client/server processing, an 11-page glossary, four pages of references, and an index.

This book has some real value. It addresses significant issues for information systems management. The major problems are the lack of editing and that the author is trying to satisfy too many constituencies. Perhaps the book should be supported by more extensive appendices covering such aspects as normalization and indexing for those who need further explanations. It would help if the author acknowledged the level he is writing for in a given chapter and then provided some connection between the text and the reference list, so the reader was drawn to the appropriate source for a fuller explanation. These limitations, however, interfere most with the application of the principles espoused. The managerial lessons come through loud and clear.

Reviewer:  E. A. Kallman Review #: CR115687
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Systems Development (K.6.1 ... )
 
 
Software Development (K.6.3 ... )
 
 
Network Architecture And Design (C.2.1 )
 
 
System Management (K.6.4 )
 
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