A Complete Guide to Db2 for Developers and DBAs, from First Query to Production

Read before you buy: the PDF here is a free sample — the first 20 pages of the 498-page book (payments, sales and reviews on this demo site are sample data). Get the full e-book at thenexbooks on Gumroad.

Learn Db2 the way production teams run it — from your first query to a secure, tuned, highly available database.

Db2 runs the systems that cannot lose data: payments, policies, reservations, ledgers. Many developers meet it the day they join one of those organizations, and many new DBAs inherit one. Db2 rewards people who understand it, but it has its own vocabulary — instances, table spaces, buffer pools, the CLP, RUNSTATS, HADR — and documentation written for people who already speak it.

This book starts from zero and builds one real database step by step, introducing each idea at the moment the business needs it. You learn not only which command to type, but why.

What's inside

• What Db2 is, its editions and platforms, installing Db2 Community Edition natively or in a container, and creating your first database
• Db2 architecture: instances, databases, configuration levels, storage groups, table spaces, buffer pools, logs, and the catalog
• The Command Line Processor, SQL scripts and terminators, db2look, remote cataloging, and GUI clients
• Db2 SQL in depth: joins, subqueries, aggregation, OLAP window functions, CTEs, MERGE, identity columns, sequences, FINAL TABLE
• Dates and times, system-period temporal tables, JSON and XML
• Views, triggers, generated columns, and SQL PL stored procedures and functions with proper error handling
• Transactions, isolation levels, currently committed, locking, deadlocks, and lock timeouts
• Connecting from Java (JDBC), Python, Node.js, and .NET
• Indexes, the optimizer, statistics, EXPLAIN and db2exfmt, a practical query-tuning workflow, and monitoring with MON_GET functions, db2pd, and event monitors
• Table spaces, compression, range partitioning, EXPORT/IMPORT/LOAD, logging, backup, restore, and roll-forward recovery drills
• Security: authorities, privileges, roles, trusted contexts, row and column access control (RCAC), auditing, and encryption
• Routine maintenance (RUNSTATS, REORG, automation), HADR high availability, column-organized tables for analytics, containers, upgrades, and migrating to Db2

One running example, start to finish. You build and run the database for Halverson Mutual, a fictional regional insurer with three branches, its agents, customers, policies, premiums, and claims. It grows from a handful of rows into a production system with audit trails, stored procedures, tuned queries, row-level security, scheduled backups, and a hot standby.

Current and honest. The examples target Db2 12.1 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows, with notes where 11.5 differs. Query results are computed from the sample data you load, so you can check every one. Performance and monitoring output is shown as clearly labeled examples, and there are no invented benchmarks. Where details vary by version or fix pack, the book says so. Every chapter includes runnable SQL and commands, Tips, Notes, Warnings, exercises, and Key Takeaways.

Format: PDF, 498 pages (A4), linked table of contents and bookmarks. English. First Edition, 2026. Published by thenexbooks. This book is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by IBM.

Table of Contents

Part I — Getting Started

• Ch 1 · Why Db2? Editions, Platforms, and Where Db2 Fits
• Ch 2 · Installing Db2: Community Edition, Containers, and Your First Database
• Ch 3 · Db2 Architecture: Instances, Databases, Table Spaces, and Buffer Pools
• Ch 4 · Working with Db2: The Command Line Processor, Scripts, and GUI Tools
• Ch 5 · SQL Fundamentals in Db2: Querying, Filtering, Sorting, and Functions

Part II — Data Modeling and SQL

• Ch 6 · Designing Tables: Data Types, Keys, and Constraints
• Ch 7 · Joins, Subqueries, and Set Operations
• Ch 8 · Aggregation, OLAP Functions, and Common Table Expressions
• Ch 9 · Changing Data: INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, MERGE, Identity Columns, and Sequences
• Ch 10 · Dates, Times, Temporal Tables, JSON, and XML

Part III — Programming Db2

• Ch 11 · Views, Triggers, and Generated Columns
• Ch 12 · SQL PL: Stored Procedures and User-Defined Functions
• Ch 13 · Transactions, Isolation Levels, and Locking
• Ch 14 · Connecting Java Applications with JDBC
• Ch 15 · Connecting from Python, Node.js, and .NET

Part IV — Performance

• Ch 16 · Indexes: How Db2 Finds Your Data
• Ch 17 · The Optimizer, Statistics, and EXPLAIN
• Ch 18 · Query Tuning in Practice
• Ch 19 · Monitoring Db2: MON_GET Functions, db2pd, and Event Monitors

Part V — Administration and Security

• Ch 20 · Storage: Table Spaces, Compression, and Table Partitioning
• Ch 21 · Moving Data: EXPORT, IMPORT, LOAD, and db2move
• Ch 22 · Logging, Backup, and Recovery
• Ch 23 · Security: Authentication, Authorities, Privileges, and Row and Column Access Control
• Ch 24 · Routine Maintenance: RUNSTATS, REORG, Configuration, and Automation

Part VI — Production

• Ch 25 · High Availability with HADR
• Ch 26 · Analytics with Column-Organized Tables
• Ch 27 · Db2 in Containers and the Cloud, Upgrades, and Migrating to Db2
• Ch 28 · Case Study: Running HALVDB in Production

Appendices
A · Db2 SQL and CLP Cheat Sheet
B · Templates and Reference
C · Production Checklist
D · Glossary

Book details