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IT TOOLS AND BUSINESS SYSTEM

Chapter: 7.2 Database

Topic: 7.2.1 Introduction to Database

Introduction to Database
About Data
 The term data can be defined as set of isolated and unrelated raw facts with an
implicit meaning.
 Data can be anything such as name of person, a number, images, sound etc.

About Database

 A database is an organized collection of related data from which user can

efficiently retrieve the desired information.
 Traditional databases are organized by fields, records and files. A field is a single
piece of information. A record is one complete set of fields and a file is a
collection of records.
 In addition to the storage and retrieval of data, certain other operations can be
performed on a database and the operations include addition, alteration,
updating and deletion of data.
 It is back-end of an application.

About Database Management System (DBMS)

 A Database Management System (DBMS) is an integrated set of programs used

to create and maintain a database.
 The operations such as adding, updating and deleting data on a database are
performed using Database Management System (DBMS).
 The main objective of DBMS is to provide a convenient and effective method of
defining, storing, retrieving and manipulating data contained in the database.

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Figure 7.1: Example for Database Structure

 The database and the DBMS software are collectively known as database
system.
 Database Management Systems (DBMSs) are especially designed for software
applications that interact with the user and other applications
 Examples of DBMS are Microsoft Access, SQL Server, MySQL etc.

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Chapter: 7.2 Database

Topic: 7.2.2 Relational Database

Relational Database
 A relational database is a collection of data items organized as a set of formally-
described tables from which data can be accessed or reassembled in many
different ways without having to reorganize the database tables.
 The relational database was invented by E. F. Codd at IBM in 1970.
 The standard user and application program interface to a relational database is
the structured query language (SQL).
 SQL statements are used for both interactive queries for information from a
relational database and for gathering data for reports.
 A relational database is a set of tables containing data fitted into predefined
categories.
 Each table (which is sometimes called a relation) contains one or more data
categories in columns. Each row contains a unique instance of data for the
categories defined by the columns.
 The following intuitive correspondence can be made
 A relation is a file.
 Each file contains only one record type.
 The records have no particular order.
 Every field is single-valued.
 The records have a unique identifying field or composite field, called the
primary key field.
 With a relational database, user can quickly compare information because of the
arrangement of data in columns.
 The relational database model takes advantage of this uniformity to build
completely new tables out of required information from existing tables.
 In other words, it uses the relationship of similar data to increase the speed and
versatility of the database.

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FIG 7.2: Relational Database

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