The authors describe the new features available in IBM’s DB2 Universal Database (UDB) in the version for assorted versions of Unix and Windows. I could find no comments about DB2 as it would relate to the mainframe world.

This book is not intended for users who know nothing about DB2; a separate book, Teach yourself DB2 Universal Database in 21 days [1] is also offered by IBM Press for such readers. The first obvious indication that this book is for existing users is in the 18 pages of chapter 1 that describe changes to UDB’s packaging and licensing. I would like to have seen this chapter moved to an appendix.

The rest of the book is divided into four parts, each of which is subdivided into chapters that are pretty much self-contained. One could therefore read one chapter and skip the others if that was all the information that was needed. The topics of the parts are performance (8 chapters), manageability (7 chapters), development (3 chapters, including one dedicated to the Microsoft environment), and information integration (3 chapters).

The book also comes with a copy of DB2 Personal Edition version 8.1.2, which the reader can install and use for 180 days. After that, a licence needs to be purchased.

The only problem I have with the book is its title. The title should clearly be The official guide to the new features of DB2 version 8 rather than The official guide to DB2 version 8. The book’s value is that it is very well organized and written. Thus, readers who are knowledgeable in the database field, and who know the basics of DB2 UDB, should easily be able to figure out the portions of the book that they need to study and those that are irrelevant to their requirements.