I.
Introduction to Databases and Database Management Systems (DBMS)
Databases and Database Management Systems (DBMS) are integral to modern life, enabling the
structured storage, manipulation, and management of data across various applications. From
booking railway tickets to managing library books, databases facilitate the efficient handling of
diverse data types, including text, images, audio, and video, to generate meaningful information.
Key Definitions:
Data: "The raw facts constitutes data." These facts can relate to any person, place,
activity, or thing, stored as text, graphics, audio, or video. Examples include marks,
weights, prices, and names.
Information: "Information is the processed or organized form of data." It is derived from
processing raw data to make it useful and meaningful. For instance, student marks and
roll numbers are data, while a report card is information.
Database: "A database is a collection of logically related data items stored in an
organised manner." It allows users to add, modify, delete, or display stored information
as needed.
Database Management System (DBMS): "The software that is used to create, update
and retrieve data is known as database management system (DBMS)." It aids in the
planning and maintenance of databases. Common examples include MS Access, Open
Office/LibreOffice Base, Oracle, Ingress, and MySQL.
II. Advantages of DBMS
DBMS offers significant advantages for data management:
Organised Storage: Data is stored in a structured manner, leading to "fast and accurate"
retrieval of required data.
Data Analysis: Facilitates data analysis based on criteria, making it "easy to find out
maximum or minimum value, average or mean."
Data Sharing: Enables the same dataset to be shared across "different applications,"
promoting reusability.
Minimal Data Redundancy: Reduces "data redundancy" by minimising the repetition of
data fields across multiple tables.
Data Consistency: By reducing redundancy, DBMS "reduces" the chances of storing
"inconsistent data," ensuring changes are reflected across all related records. The
example of "Ram Lal Kumar" changing his name illustrates how a DBMS automatically
updates related tables, preventing inconsistencies.
Increased Efficiency: Proper organisation of database tables allows for efficient saving,
reading, and searching of data.
Increased Accuracy: Minimised redundancy and inconsistency lead to more accurate
data retrieval.
Increased Validity: Allows for the assignment of properties to data fields during
planning, enabling validity checks "at the data entry stage."
Security: Controls "unauthorised access" through passwords and data encryption, which
translates data to prevent unauthorised reading.
III. Data Models
A data model defines the structure of a database, specifying how data is stored and retrieved,
including data components, relationships, and constraints.
Types of Data Models:
1. Hierarchical Data Model:
Organises data in a "tree like structure."
Data is stored as "records," which are collections of fields and their data values.
Records are linked at various levels, forming a hierarchy (e.g., company data with
departments and employees).
1. Network Data Model:
Links "multiple records to same master file."
Considered an "inverted tree" where the master is at the bottom, and branches contain
linked information.
1. Relational Data Model:
"The most commonly used database model."
Proposed in 1970 by E. F. Codd.
"Based on the principle of setting relationships between two or more tables of the same
database."
Data elements are stored in different tables composed of rows and columns.
Tables are related through common fields.
IV. Relational Database Terminology
Understanding these terms is crucial for working with Relational Database Management Systems
(RDBMS):
Entity: "It is a real world object about which information is to be stored in a database."
(e.g., Student, Employee).
Attributes: Details associated with an entity (e.g., roll number, name, date of birth for a
student). These are represented as columns.
Table: "A collection of logically related records," organised as "a set of columns, and can
have any number of rows."
Field or Column or Attribute: "The smallest entity in the database." Individual record
characteristics presented as columns, holding data values of one type for several
persons.
Data Values: "Raw data represented in numeric, character or alphanumeric form" (e.g.,
'Abhinav Bindra', '26', 'shooting').
Record or Row: "The data values for all the fields related to a person or object."
Presented as rows within a table, holding all field data values for a single entity.
Primary Key: "A field that uniquely identifies a row in a table." It must have unique
values and cannot be left blank. If multiple fields are used, it's a composite key (e.g.,
student roll number).
Relational Database: "A collection of related tables" that are linked via common fields.
Foreign Key: "If a field or a combination of fields of one table can be used to uniquely
identify records of another table, then that particular field is known as the foreign key."
It establishes relationships between tables (e.g., 'Enrolment_Number' linking student
registration to student marks).
Candidate Key: "All the field values that are eligible to be the primary key." They cannot
be blank or have duplicate values.
Alternate Key: Out of the candidate keys, those not chosen as the primary key are
alternate keys.
V. Objects of an RDBMS
Database objects are structures or features used to store, represent, or retrieve data.
Table: The "basic unit of any DBMS" where data is stored in row and column format
(columns for fields/attributes, rows for records).
Forms: "A feature of a database using which we can enter data in a table in an easy and
user friendly manner." They provide a user-friendly interface with text boxes, labels,
radio buttons, etc.
Queries: "Used to retrieve the desired information from the database." Essentially, "a
question asked from the database" to retrieve datasets matching specific criteria.
Reports: Used to display "the output of a query" in a formal and properly laid-out
format, often converting row and column results into a presentable document.