The Manga Guide to Databases--New from No Starch Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: 
Travis Peterson
nostarchpr@oreilly.com
415.863.9900 x300

The Manga Guide to Databases--New from No Starch Press
Adorable Fairy Teaches How to Design and Manage Databases

San Francisco, CA, January 22, 2009--The lovely Princess Ruruna has a
problem: her fruit-selling kingdom is a tangle of conflicting and
duplicated data, and it has become really hard to sort the melons from the
apples and strawberries. But what can she do? Why, build a relational
database of course, with the help of Tico, the magical database fairy. 

So begins "The Manga Guide to Databases" (No Starch Press, January 2009, 224
pp, ISBN 9781593271909), one in a series of technical EduManga titles from
geek entertainment publisher No Starch Press. In this volume, readers tag
along as Ruruna learns how databases work-and the meaning of terms like
schema, key, normalization, and transaction.

"Databases are essential for any modern IT project, but they can be really
intimidating for non-specialists," said No Starch Press founder William
Pollock. "The wonderful thing about 'The Manga Guide to Databases,' and all
of the books in this series, is that the manga story carries the reader
through the book, and the learning happens almost effortlessly. Databases
are presented as something fun, not something dreadful. Even pure manga
fans approve of the books' shoujo-style manga."

Guided by the book's authentic manga and Tico the database fairy's
real-life examples, readers learn how to:    

- Extract data from a relational database using set and relational
operations
- Apply the entity-relationship model to accurately represent their data
- Set user permissions and use transactions and locks to prevent
conflicting data
- Use SQL to update or retrieve data and create reports

Readers will even explore advanced topics like security, indexing,
disaster recovery, and replication. Co-published with scientific and
technical publisher Ohmsha, Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan, "The Manga Guide to
Databases" brings the magic of databases to readers everywhere. 
	
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mana Takahashi is a graduate of the University of Tokyo, Faculty of
Economics in Tokyo, Japan. She is an active technical writer and has
published a number of books on topics such as Java, C, XML, Information
Engineering, and System Administration.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Excerpt from Chapter 2: "What is a Relational Database?" (PDF): 
	http://www.tinker.tv/download/databases_ch2.pdf
Table of contents overview:  http://www.nostarch.com/mg_databases_toc.htm
Detailed table of contents: 
http://www.nostarch.com/download/databases_toc.pdf
Index:  http://www.nostarch.com/download/databases_index.pdf
Large cover image:  http://www.nostarch.com/mg_databases_big.htm  

The Manga Guide to Databases
By Mana Takahashi, Shoko Azuma, and Trend-pro Co, Ltd.
January 2009, 224 pp.
ISBN 9781593271909, $19.95 USD

Available in fine bookstores everywhere, from www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or
directly from No Starch Press (www.nostarch.com, orders@nostarch.com,
+1.415.863.9900).

ABOUT THE MANGA GUIDE SERIES
The Manga Guides cover a multitude of essential scientific and technical
subjects like statistics, physics, molecular biology, calculus,
electricity, and relativity. Each guide is written by a scientist or
mathematician with expertise in the field and illustrated by a
professional manga artist and scenario writer, ensuring the authenticity
readers demand. The first two titles in the series, "The Manga Guide to
Statistics" (9781593271893, November 2008) and "The Manga Guide to Databases"
(9781593271909, January 2009), will be followed by "The Manga Guide to
Electricity" (9781593271978, March 2009), "The Manga Guide to Physics"
(9781593271961, April 2009), and "The Manga Guide to Calculus"
(9781593271947, June 2009). No Starch Press projects at least eight titles
in this new series by the end of 2009.

ABOUT NO STARCH PRESS
Founded in 1994, No Starch Press is one of the few remaining independent
technical book publishers. We publish the finest in geek entertainment--
unique books on technology, with a focus on Open Source, security, hacking, 
programming, alternative operating systems, and LEGO. Our titles have 
personality, our authors are passionate, and our books tackle topics that 
people care about. See www.nostarch.com for a complete catalog.

ABOUT OHMSHA
Founded in 1914, Ohmsha is a science and engineering book publisher based
in Tokyo, Japan. In addition to publishing dozens of titles a year in
Japan, Ohmsha is also active in foreign projects, including
co-publications with major publishers in Europe, North America, and Asia,
and joint ventures with major international publishers. With the aim of
contributing to the development and progress of science and technology in
Japan, Ohmsha established The Promotion Foundation for Electrical Science
and Engineering in 1951; through this foundation, the OHM Technology Award
is given every year to those who have made significant contributions to
the field of electrical engineering.

ABOUT O'REILLY MEDIA
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has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in
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amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the
future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has
a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

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