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Characteristics of Databses - Lecture 3-4

This document provides an overview of different types of databases. It discusses flat file databases, relational databases, and object-oriented databases. Relational databases use tables made up of columns and rows to organize data across multiple tables linked by common attributes. Object-oriented databases store data as objects linked by pointers defining relationships. The document also briefly mentions biological databases can be primary, secondary, or specialized.

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39 views9 pages

Characteristics of Databses - Lecture 3-4

This document provides an overview of different types of databases. It discusses flat file databases, relational databases, and object-oriented databases. Relational databases use tables made up of columns and rows to organize data across multiple tables linked by common attributes. Object-oriented databases store data as objects linked by pointers defining relationships. The document also briefly mentions biological databases can be primary, secondary, or specialized.

Uploaded by

kanz ul emaan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Characteristics of Databases

Lecture 3-4
Database
• A database is a computerized archive used to store and organize data in such a way that information can be
retrieved easily via a variety of search criteria.
• Databases are composed of computer hardware and software for data management.
• The chief objective of the development of a database is to organize data in a set of structured records to
enable easy retrieval of information.
• Each record, also called an entry, should contain a number of fields that hold the actual data items, for
example, fields for names, phone numbers, addresses, dates. To retrieve a particular record from the
database, a user can specify a particular piece of information, called value, to be found in a particular field
and expect the computer to retrieve the whole data record. This process is called making a query.
TYPES OF DATABASES

• Originally, databases all used a flat file format, which is a long text file that contains many entries separated
by a delimiter, a special character such as a vertical bar (|). Within each entry are a number of fields
separated by tabs or commas. Except for the raw values in each field, the entire text file does not contain
any hidden instructions for computers to search for specific information or to create reports based on
certain fields from each record. The text file can be considered a single table.
• Thus, to search a flat file for a particular piece of information, a computer has to read through the entire file,
an obviously inefficient process. This is manageable for a small database, but as database size increases or
data types become more complex, this database style can become very difficult for information retrieval.
Indeed, searches through such files often cause crashes of the entire computer system because of the
memory-intensive nature of the operation.
• To facilitate the access and retrieval of data, sophisticated computer software programs for organizing,
searching, and accessing data have been developed. They are called database management systems. These
systems contain not only raw data records but also operational instructions to help identify hidden
connections among data records. The purpose of establishing a data structure is for easy execution of the
searches and to combine different records to form final search reports. Depending on the types of data
structures, these database management systems can be classified into two types: relational database
management systems and object-oriented database management systems. Consequently, databases
employing these management systems are known as relational databases or object-oriented databases,
respectively.
Relational database
• Instead of using a single table as in a flat file database, relational databases use a set of tables to organize
data. Each table, also called a relation, is made up of columns and rows.
• Columns represent individual fields. Rows represent values in the fields of records.
• The columns in a table are indexed according to a common feature called an attribute, so they can be cross-
referenced in other tables.
• To execute a query in a relational database, the system selects linked data items from different tables and
combines the information into one report. Therefore, specific information can be found more quickly from a
relational database than from a flat file database.
• Relational databases can be created using a special programming language called structured query language
(SQL). The creation of this type of databases can take a great deal of planning during the design phase. After
creation of the original database, a new data category can be easily added without requiring all existing
tables to be modified. The subsequent database searching and data gathering for reports are relatively
straightforward
Object oriented database
• One of the problems with relational databases is that the tables used do not describe complex hierarchical
relationships between data items.
• To overcome the problem, object-oriented databases have been developed that store data as objects.
• In an object-oriented programming language, an object can be considered as a unit that combines data and
mathematical routines that act on the data. The database is structured such that the objects are linked by a
set of pointers defining predetermined relationships between the objects. Searching the database involves
navigating through the objects with the aid of the pointers linking different objects. Programming languages
like C++ are used to create object-oriented databases.
Biological Databases
• 1. Primary
• 2. Secondary
• 3.Specialized

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