If you are really interested in making a career out of databases, then this is a book you got to read. An analogy that comes to mind is "You got to have a strong foundation to build a sky craper". This is exactly what this book is. It helps you build a strong foundation.

I got hold of this book when I was in my 4th Semester of my BS in computer science (1994 - 2nd Edition of this book) to clear my Database concepts exam. Ever since, whenever I feel I might not have understood some concept, I go back to this book.

One thing you got to understand is, its not a book that you can just read through and tell people that you have understood the concepts. You need to work the book.

Rgds,
Naveen
IBM DB2 UDB Certified Specialist.