Publisher's Synopsis
This book is unique. It is the only one on the market that treats generic SQL Server SQL programming extensively and exclusively. Moreover, it is the only one on the market that provides a sophisticated, directly executable, i.e., copy-paste-run, bitemporal generic data warehouse that is capable of living in a real production environment based on SQL Server. Generic programming, also known as meta-programming, is an art of programming that makes programs that make programs. Essentially, generic programming aims at reducing manual programming by program generation. Generic SQL programming is based on the so-called dynamic SQL. That is, SQL programs are dynamically composed during the execution of the generic programs that are also based on SQL. If you do not like monotonous, repetitive manual work, this book should be your favorite. Generic data warehouses represent the highest degree of agile data warehouses, i.e., those that can be fast and inexpensively changed and extended. In principle, generic data warehouses work independently of structures like architectures or data models you hotly debate on. If you find that your data warehouse is not agile enough, this book is your must-read. By doing so, you will get your new real-life data warehouse at once and almost for free. This happens without any expensive and laborious commercial data warehousing tools whose maintenance itself already presents a significant challenge. The conceptual fundament of this book is my first book of the series, i.e., "Constructing Generic Data Warehouses with Metadata-driven Generic Operators." In his foreword, Mr Bill Inmon, "the father of data warehousing," wrote: "When I read Dr. Jiang's book I was impressed by three things. I was impressed by the book's - - Completeness - Practicality - Innovation. Dr. Jiang's book represents the latest and the most complete step in the ongoing evolution of data warehousing. This book belongs on the desk of every serious practitioner. I enthusiastically welcome this latest stepping stone in the evolution that started a few decades ago."
