Data Modeling and Schema Design for Analytics
Chapter 1: Foundations of Analytical Architecture
Operational vs Analytical Workloads
Row-Oriented vs Columnar Storage
The Role of Denormalization
Hands-on Practical: Analyzing Query Plans
Chapter 2: Dimensional Modeling Core
The Grain of Data
Fact Tables Fundamentals
Dimension Tables Structure
Star Schema Architecture
Snowflake Schema Variations
Hands-on Practical: Designing a Star Schema
Chapter 3: Advanced Dimension Handling
Surrogate Keys vs Natural Keys
Slowly Changing Dimensions Type 1
Slowly Changing Dimensions Type 2
Date and Time Dimensions
Role-Playing Dimensions
Hands-on Practical: Implementing SCD Type 2
Chapter 4: Complex Fact Table Patterns
Transactional Fact Tables
Periodic Snapshot Fact Tables
Accumulating Snapshot Fact Tables
Factless Fact Tables
Hands-on Practical: Building an Accumulating Snapshot
Chapter 5: Physical Design and Optimization
Partitioning Strategies
Clustering and Sorting Keys
Nested Data Structures
One Big Table OBT Methodology
Hands-on Practical: Optimization Tuning
Star Schema Architecture
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- The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Definitive Guide to Dimensional Modeling, Ralph Kimball, Margy Ross, 2013 (John Wiley & Sons) - This book is the foundational text for dimensional modeling, providing comprehensive guidance on designing star schemas, fact tables, dimension tables, and surrogate keys for analytical systems.
- Database System Concepts, Abraham Silberschatz, Henry F. Korth, S. Sudarshan, 2019 (McGraw-Hill Education) - A widely used textbook that covers fundamental database design principles, including normalization (3NF), relational algebra, and an introduction to data warehousing, providing a theoretical contrast to dimensional modeling.
- Modern Database Management, Jeffrey A. Hoffer, V. Ramesh, Heikki Topi, 2019 (Pearson) - This textbook covers data warehousing and business intelligence, discussing the practical application and design of star schemas, dimensional modeling, and their role in modern analytical data architectures.
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