Recent years have seen an explosive growth in the use of new database
applications such as CAD/CAM systems, spatial information systems, and
multimedia information systems. The needs of these applications are far
more complex than traditional business applications. They call for
support of objects with complex data types, such as images and spatial
objects, and for support of objects with wildly varying numbers of index
terms, such as documents. Traditional indexing techniques such as the
B-tree and its variants do not efficiently support these applications,
and so new indexing mechanisms have been developed. As a result of the
demand for database support for new applications, there has been a
proliferation of new indexing techniques.
The need for a book addressing indexing problems in advanced
applications is evident. For practitioners and database and application
developers, this book explains best practice, guiding the selection of
appropriate indexes for each application. For researchers, this book
provides a foundation for the development of new and more robust
indexes. For newcomers, this book is an overview of the wide range of
advanced indexing techniques.
Indexing Techniques for Advanced Database Systems is suitable as a
secondary text for a graduate level course on indexing techniques, and
as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.