Firebird 3 has brought a fully unified server architecture and improved support for multi-core hardware platforms. Threading of engine processes has been improved, bringing the ability for Superserver to share page cache across thread and connection boundaries.
New strategies inside the engine improve performance, query optimization, monitoring and scalability. Many important features that are globally configurable can now be overridden and applied on a "per-database" basis. Above all, Firebird 3 provides more options for server and database security. An authentication database can be dedicated to one or more specific databases, or embedded within a user database.
A number of sought-after features were introduced into the SQL language, including a fully-implemented Boolean data type, a Microsoft-style IDENTITY type, SQL packages, stored user-defined functions and SQL-driven management of user accounts and access privileges.
Despite the advances, Firebird 3 is still the Firebird that we know and love. This Supplement provides an updated reference for everyone who uses, or wants to use, the Firebird relational database management system as a back-end component to software ranging from bulk data collectors to enterprise-wide systems. It should be treated as an adjunct to the companion volumes, certainly not as a substitute--so don't throw away those doorstoppers that you bought for Firebird 2.
The companion volumes
Volume 1: Firebird Fundamentals is a "101" course for understanding client/server architecture, installing Firebird, setting it up on your network and beginning to work with databases, using the DDL lexicon of SQL. Volume 2: Developing with Firebird Data takes up from the first book, covering the DML and PSQL features used by developers for making applications work with data. Volume 3: Administering Firebird Servers and Databases covers all of the tools, procedures and features available to operate, monitor and maintain the security of your servers and the health of your databases. To obtain the entire eBook versions of all four volumes of The Firebird Book Second Edition on a DVD, visit http: //www.ibphoenix.com/products/dvd/developer_dvd.