<b> </b> This book presents the conceptual principles underlying the design and implementation of databases and their applications by providing a solid foundation of the theory underlying database systems. <b> </b> This book takes an applications-oriented approach to database concepts and covers topics including; ER Modeling, UML, XML, object-oriented databases, SQL, database tuning, and the important software issues that arise when implementing database applications. <b> </b> This book is appropriate for programmers who want to understand database system concepts and how they apply to real-world databases.