Database Management

Peter Wood

Aims

To familiarise the student with the main concepts underlying database management, and in particular with the relational database model which is the dominant database system used within corporate IT departments. The module has three main strands: (1) fundamental concepts introduced using the entity-relationship model, (2) querying a relational database, and (3) relational database design.

Assessment

By 2-hour written examination and practical coursework (sample SQL solutions), weighted 80% and 20% respectively.

Pre-requisites

Information Systems Concepts (ISC), Computer Systems and Elements of Programming (CSEP), and Information Systems Management (ISM)

Syllabus (lecture schedule and slides)

• Introduction to Databases
• Data Modelling with the Entity-Relationship Model
• The Basic Relational Model
  • Tables, Attributes and Domains
  • Primary and Foreign Keys
• Querying a Relational Database
  • Querying a Single Table
  • Aggregating and Grouping Data
  • Querying Multiple Tables
  • Removing Duplicates
  • Null Values
  • Transaction Management and Concurrency Control
• Designing a Relational Database
  • The three levels of a Database System
  • The Normalization Problem
  • Boyce-Codd Normal Form
• Databases and the Web

Indicative Reading

1. J.D. Ullman and J. Widom, A First Course in Database Systems, Third Edition, Prentice Hall, 2008.
2. A.B. Silberschatz, H.F. Korth and S. Sudarshan, Database System Concepts, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2011.
3. T. Connolly and C. Begg, Database Systems: A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation, and Management, Fifth Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2010.