My New Db2 Book is Coming Soon!

Those of you who are regular followers of me on LinkedIn, my blog, and other social media outlets will know that I have written one of the most enduring books on Db2 called DB2 Developer's Guide. It has been in print for over twenty years in 6 different editions.

Well, the time has come for me to write another Db2 book. The focus of this book is on the things that application programmers and developers can do to write programs that perform well from the beginning. The book is titled: A Guide to Db2 Application Performance for Developers.

You see, in my current role as an independent consultant that focuses on Db2, I get to visit a lot of different organizations... and I get to see a lot of poorly performing programs and applications. So I thought: "Wouldn't it be great if there was a book I could recommend that would advise coders on how to ensure optimal performance in their code as they write their Db2 programs?"

This was a similar thought I had way back when before I wrote my first book. At that time, back when the only manuals available were printed and housed in binders, I thought "Wouldn't it be great if there was a single book that captured the essentials of what you need to know to administer and use DB2?" There really wasn't, so I wrote that book.

Well, again, there really isn't a book that focuses on just what programmers should know to write efficient programs. So I figured it was time to write another book: A Guide to Db2 Application Performance for Developers.

This book is written for all Db2 professionals, covering both Db2 for LUW and Db2 for z/OS. When there are pertinent differences between the two it will be pointed out in the text. My earlier book was just for z/OS.

This new book’s focus is on develop­ing applications with performance in mind. It is not targeted at DBA and sysadmins. So it doesn’t cover the things programmers don’t do on a daily basis (like reorgs, backups, monitoring, etc). Instead, the book offers guidance on application devel­opment procedures, techniques, and philosophies for producing optimal code. The goal is to educate developers on how to write good appli­cation code that lends itself to optimal performance. 

By following the principles in this book you will be able to write code that does not require significant remedial, after-the-fact modifications by performance ana­lysts. If you follow the guidelines in this book your DBAs and performance analysts will love you! And if you are a DBA, be sure to get a copy so you can recommend it to your development staff.

The book does not rehash material that is freely available in Db2 manuals that can be downloaded or read online. It is assumed that the reader has access to the Db2 manuals for their environment (Linux, Unix, Windows, z/OS).

The book is not a tutorial on SQL; it assumes that you have knowledge of how to code SQL statements and embed them in your applications. Instead, it offers advice on how to code your programs and SQL statements for performance.

What you will get from reading this book is a well-grounded basis for designing and developing efficient Db2 applications that perform well. 

Planned publication for this book is late September 2018 (revised now to mid October 2018). News of its publication and how to order will be on my web site when the book is available.