Help on designing DB/ Web Service
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Hi, I have good development experience, have been in developing projects more than 8 years. But I had been asked to design complete end to end software for a project. It involves designing DB, WCF Server, communication protocols(like xml formats, schema ..etc) . As I am new to design the software, need help on quickly learning on designing the product like DB design and system design. Please help me to learn those aspects quickly to do build software. Please suggest me how to start with , like good books/links/tutorials. Especially on designing DB and web service protocols and communications. I don't have much time to learn though. So your suggestions/guidance will be great help. Thanks in advance.
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Hi, I have good development experience, have been in developing projects more than 8 years. But I had been asked to design complete end to end software for a project. It involves designing DB, WCF Server, communication protocols(like xml formats, schema ..etc) . As I am new to design the software, need help on quickly learning on designing the product like DB design and system design. Please help me to learn those aspects quickly to do build software. Please suggest me how to start with , like good books/links/tutorials. Especially on designing DB and web service protocols and communications. I don't have much time to learn though. So your suggestions/guidance will be great help. Thanks in advance.
DavJes wrote:
Please help me to learn those aspects quickly
It depends on what you mean by "quickly" but in general that isn't going to happen. If the project is smaller then it probably isn't going to matter but a larger multi-application system isn't going to be designed quickly even if you already knew how to do it. Myself I used Visio and Word to create my design documents. Visio for diagrams and Word for the actual design.
DavJes wrote:
Especially on designing DB
Depends on the data. If you know what the data is and have some experience with database tables then all you need to do for the design is document each table and the values that go in each. You don't need to specify column sizes in the design unless there are requirements that specifically indicate sizes. A diagram with some comments following on each table is sufficient.
DavJes wrote:
web service protocols and communications.
This is either trivial or very difficult depending on what the system does and what the methods are supposed to do. But in general you can specify each method is pseudo code and document input and output values. Documenting every method and variation probably isn't needed.
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Hi, I have good development experience, have been in developing projects more than 8 years. But I had been asked to design complete end to end software for a project. It involves designing DB, WCF Server, communication protocols(like xml formats, schema ..etc) . As I am new to design the software, need help on quickly learning on designing the product like DB design and system design. Please help me to learn those aspects quickly to do build software. Please suggest me how to start with , like good books/links/tutorials. Especially on designing DB and web service protocols and communications. I don't have much time to learn though. So your suggestions/guidance will be great help. Thanks in advance.
For database-design, I'll always recommend Normalizing upto BCNF. For webservices, I'd recommend the book "SOA patterns" from Manning. As the title says, it focuses on (design) patterns; using predefined code-structures that can be easily communicated about makes 'architecting' a bit easier. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/[^] has some nice reads touching the topic.
DavJes wrote:
I don't have much time to learn though
Learn a bit each day; no project starts with a 'perfect' architecture.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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For database-design, I'll always recommend Normalizing upto BCNF. For webservices, I'd recommend the book "SOA patterns" from Manning. As the title says, it focuses on (design) patterns; using predefined code-structures that can be easily communicated about makes 'architecting' a bit easier. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/[^] has some nice reads touching the topic.
DavJes wrote:
I don't have much time to learn though
Learn a bit each day; no project starts with a 'perfect' architecture.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
hey thanks for the info. Please just guide me to learn how to do DB design and webservice architecture, I appreciate your help. Any good books, or links which can help. I understand it can't be learnt overnight, but at-least i will make it a point to learn faster. thanks
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hey thanks for the info. Please just guide me to learn how to do DB design and webservice architecture, I appreciate your help. Any good books, or links which can help. I understand it can't be learnt overnight, but at-least i will make it a point to learn faster. thanks
DavJes wrote:
Please just guide me to learn how to do DB design and webservice architecture
Can't give more pointers on webservices than the book I mentioned. I've listed some resources on database-normalization, which would be the preferred design IMHO.
- MSDN[^], explains up to rule #6
- MSDN[^], tips
- Wikipedia[^], with examples and explanation. (Links halfway details on every step)
- SqlMag[^] has a nice introduction on the topic, as well as a link that explains when normalization should be skipped.
Personally, I don't go all the way, just upto BCNF. It's boring and tedious stuff to learn and apply, but I wouldn't recommend it if the advantages don't outweigh the disadvantages; the result will be more confidence in the model used, fewer design-errors, and within a few tables you'll be normalizing your structures without effort. The reason I recommended Mannings' SOA patterns[^] is because it focuses on the most-used patterns; a pattern is a proven and reusable solution, and that's always a nice thing to have in any architecture. I also recommend it because I read and enjoyed it myself :)
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]