Chapter 11: Further Reading

These resources deepen your understanding of DDL concepts, platform-specific features, and database design principles. They are organized from most immediately practical to most comprehensive.

IBM Official Documentation

DB2 for z/OS

  • SQL Reference for DB2 13 for z/OS — The authoritative reference for all DDL syntax on z/OS, including CREATE TABLE, CREATE TABLESPACE, CREATE INDEX, ALTER TABLE, and DROP statements. Bookmark the "SQL statements" section.

  • IBM Knowledge Center: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/db2-for-zos

  • DB2 13 for z/OS Administration Guide — Chapters on tablespace design, index design, and storage management provide operational context that the SQL Reference lacks. Pay particular attention to the sections on Universal Table Spaces.

  • DB2 13 for z/OS Utility Guide — Understanding REORG, CHECK DATA, REBUILD INDEX, and COPY is essential for managing the DDL lifecycle. These utilities resolve pending states created by ALTER TABLE operations.

DB2 for LUW

  • SQL Reference for DB2 11.5 for LUW — The LUW counterpart to the z/OS reference. Note the differences in tablespace management, BOOLEAN support, and constraint behavior.

  • IBM Knowledge Center: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/db2/11.5

  • DB2 11.5 Database Administration Concepts and Configuration Reference — Covers automatic storage, page size selection, buffer pool configuration, and the operational aspects of tablespace management on LUW.

Books

  • Mullins, Craig S. DB2 Developer's Guide, 6th Edition. Pearson, 2012. Despite its age, this book remains one of the most comprehensive references for DB2 DDL on z/OS. Chapters on table design, index design, and tablespace management are thorough and practical.

  • Zikopoulos, Paul C. et al. DB2 pureXML Cookbook. IBM Press, 2009. If you work with XML data types in DB2, this book covers XML column design, XML indexing with XMLPATTERN, and SQL/XML integration in detail.

  • Janacek, George. DB2 for z/OS and OS/390: Ready Reference. A compact quick-reference for z/OS DDL syntax, tablespace parameters, and utility commands. Useful as a desk reference when writing DDL scripts.

  • Gunning, Philip K., et al. DB2 9 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows: DBA Guide, Reference, and Exam Prep, 6th Edition. IBM Press, 2008. Though dated, the tablespace management and physical design chapters provide foundational understanding that applies to current versions.

Articles and White Papers

  • IBM Redbooks: "DB2 12 for z/OS Technical Overview" (SG24-8435). Covers the Universal Table Space enhancements, online schema change improvements, and partition-by-growth features introduced in DB2 12 for z/OS. Available free from IBM Redbooks website.

  • IBM Redbooks: "Deploying DB2 12 for z/OS on Linux on IBM Z" (SG24-8447). Useful for understanding how z/OS and LUW DDL concepts translate in Linux on Z environments.

  • "The Art of Indexing" by Craig Mullins — A series of articles on index design strategies for DB2, covering B-tree internals, clustering, partitioned indexes, and index-only access paths. Available through the IDUG (International DB2 Users Group) website.

Standards and Specifications

  • ISO/IEC 9075:2023 (SQL Standard) — The international standard that defines the SQL language, including DDL syntax for CREATE TABLE, constraints, and data types. DB2 implements the standard with extensions. Understanding where DB2 conforms to the standard and where it extends it helps when working with cross-platform DDL.

  • IEEE 754-2008 (Floating-Point Arithmetic) — The standard that defines DECFLOAT behavior. Relevant if you use DECFLOAT(16) or DECFLOAT(34) for financial interchange data.

  • ISO 639-1 (Language Codes) and ISO 3166-1 (Country Codes) — Referenced in data type selection for language, country, and currency columns. Using ISO-standard code lengths (CHAR(2), CHAR(3)) ensures compatibility with international data.

Online Resources

  • IDUG (International DB2 Users Group) — https://www.idug.org — The largest community of DB2 professionals. Technical library, conference presentations, and discussion forums cover real-world DDL challenges and solutions.

  • IBM developerWorks (now IBM Developer) — Tutorials and sample code for DB2 DDL on both platforms. Search for "DB2 CREATE TABLE best practices" and "DB2 tablespace design."

  • Planet DB2 — A blog aggregator collecting posts from DB2 professionals worldwide. Search for DDL-related posts to see real production examples and lessons learned.

Certification Preparation

  • IBM Certification C1000-013 (DB2 11.1 Fundamentals for LUW) — DDL topics constitute approximately 20% of this exam. Focus on data types, constraint types, tablespace management, and CREATE/ALTER/DROP syntax.

  • IBM Certification C1000-047 (DB2 11.1 DBA for LUW) — Advanced DDL topics including tablespace design, index strategies, online schema changes, and storage management.

  • IBM Certification C1000-155 (DB2 13 for z/OS Database Administrator) — Extensive coverage of z/OS-specific DDL: storage groups, databases, UTS design, partition strategies, and pending state management.

For readers working through this book linearly:

  1. First, review the Meridian Bank DDL in code/meridian-complete-ddl.sql and execute it against your DB2 instance
  2. Then read the IBM SQL Reference sections on CREATE TABLE and CREATE INDEX for your platform
  3. Complete the exercises in exercises.md, focusing on the design exercises (Part G)
  4. Read the Craig Mullins indexing articles to deepen your index design intuition
  5. Review the IBM Redbook on DB2 12/13 for z/OS if you work on the mainframe platform

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