The page in support of book “Information and Data Models: Atom and universe of information”
Content
What this book is about: in short
This book is about basic informatics – but not the one you studied at school or college. This book is about information, not about data. The basic laws of informatics are not denied, but substantially revised. And they begin by saying that a bit is a unit of data, not a unit of information. Computer science borders on philosophy and even on psychology, in this book you will see these boundaries. In addition, in the book you will find a full review of data structures and data models. I also recommend reading the book to those who are interested in logical approaches to artificial intelligence.
What this book is about: more
In this book, I consider software products as elements of a common ecosystem. Then the components of software products and their interaction are analyzed. This concerns the independence of software products from the hardware platform. Considering the top-down parts of the programs, I step to consideration of their elementary components – processes and data. Consideration of the data and is devoted most of the book.
First of all, I try to separate the concept of data and information. In particular, I explain that a bit is actually not a unit of information — it is a unit of data. Through consistent reasoning, I derive a unit of information and its properties. I tell you how information units communicate with each other and form structural elements – from the simplest to the most complex. You will learn what the main contradictions that exist in the data, is able to overcome the unit of information.
Since the elementary unit of information – the sign – is not something abstract, ephemeral, but is a very specific structure, it is necessary to understand what operations can be performed on it – and I do not go past this topic in the book. Following from simple to complex, I look at the operations that we meet daily in life, but which are not covered in the classic computer science textbooks: classification, identification, comparison, validation, discretization, collection and enrichment of information, etc.
Next, I turn from information theory in the form of a description of structures to specifics – which elements of information are in practice, where the construction of an information base on the basis of information elements begins. I write that elements are directly related to symbols and natural language. Therefore, one of the chapters is symbolic informatics. And after that I come back to the structures that we are used to seeing in software products, and which are described using data. For example, sets, lists, trees, etc. I consider the same structures, but from the point of view of realization in atoms of information. Having described them, I strive to compare data and information in the form of two opposite processes – data interpretation and information coding in data. In the last chapter, I consider the relationship of information elements and data models – from infological to relational, because, on the one hand, they provide an opportunity to check in detail the plausibility of my theoretical calculations, and on the other hand, they verify the completeness of the theory, that is, how much the data model can be implemented in items of information.
About the author
My name is Alexander Gorbachev. Over the past 15 years, I have gained invaluable practical experience related to programming, architecture and information system technologies, with the implementation of ERP systems and business processes of companies.
I began my professional activity with programming, then, during the last years of the university, I realized that consulting was interesting to me – software implementation. My experience was shaped in various roles – as a Consultant in support of financial systems, as an Implementation Consultant, Sales Engineer of ERP-systems, Project Manager, and, finally, the Director of the Consulting department.
With that, all the years since I graduated from my alma mater, the Moscow Aviation Institute, I didn’t leave thinking about the connections between theory and practice, the connection between fundamental knowledge and applied solutions. I see “gray zones” in the basic, most elementary questions of computer science, which do not allow software technologies to develop even faster and more efficiently.
Having collected my ideas, I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I would not be able to break my notes into independent articles. But it turned out the whole book, which I propose you for review.
I will be grateful for your feedback about it.
Contacts
I would appreciate any of your feedback, reviews, discussions, criticism and suggestions – please see my contacts here: contacts.