The Object Data Standard: ODMG 3.0 (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)

Object-oriented databases should get a big boost with the emergence of the new Object Data Management Group (ODMG) 3 standard. Written by its inventors, The Object Data Standard: ODMG 3.0 provides an up-to-the-minute reference on this important new way of working with databases through objects. Any C++, Java, or Smalltalk programmer can benefit from this compact yet very useful reference work.

With ODMG 3 you can program databases using your favorite object-oriented programming language, and objects can be saved to an underlying database transparently.

After some material on the philosophy and design principles behind ODMG, the book delivers a practical reference to important aspects of this new standard, beginning with data types and the Object Definition Language (ODL) for defining objects. One of the best parts of this text has to be its nicely comprehensive guide to types of query operations available using the Object Query Language (OQL). (The examples show you how to start exploring the capabilities of OQL, with samples that use a hypothetical college course registration database.)

The most immediately useful chapters here look at the bindings for C++, Smalltalk, and Java in ODMG 3. Each section lists the data types, database operations, and collection classes in each language used to communicate with object databases. (Working programmers should be able to use these chapters as a reference once ODMG 3 support arrives in actual products.) Overall, this text provides a necessary source of vital information on the latest in programming strategies for object-oriented databases. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Object Data Management Group (ODMG) 3 standard for object-oriented databases, history of ODMG specifications, object model, types, literals, properties, operations, metadata, locking, transactions, database operations, Object Definition Language (ODL), Object Interchange Format (OIF), Object Query Language (OQL), polymorphism, query tips and syntax, C++, Smalltalk and Java bindings for ODMG, ODMG 3 vs. OMG Object Model, formal syntax with EBNF notation, and sample ODMG code.