RELATIONAL

ALGEBRA &
BASIC SQL
LEARNING
OBJECTIVE

Work with the fundamental relational

algebra operators that are a foundation
for structured query language (SQL)
Demonstrate how to translate relational
algebra expressions to SQL
Presentation title 3

COMPONENTS OF THE RELATIONAL

MODEL (RECAP)

1. Data structure
• Tables (relations), rows, columns
2. Data integrity constraints
• Mechanisms for implementing business rules that maintain integrity of
manipulated data
3. Data manipulation
• Powerful SQL operations for retrieving and modifying data
• Relational algebra is the foundation for SQL operations
Presentation title 4

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA
Relational Algebra: A collection of algebraic operators that
• Are defined on relations;
• Produce relations as results; and
• Can be combined to form complex algebraic expressions.
• Can be grouped into:
• Unary operators: operate on one relation only (select, project, name)
• Operators from set theory: merge the elements of two sets in various
ways (union, cross product, difference)
• Derived operators – join operators (intersection, join, natural join)
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA
What is algebra, anyway? Expressions created by combining operands and
operators that satisfy some laws
Operands (values) Expressions
− Variables, constants − Combine operations with parenthesis (explicit)
− Closure property − OR using either precedence (implied)

Operators Laws
+ “Addition” − Identify semantically equivalent expressions
* “Multiplication” − Commutativity, associativity, etc.
- “Subtraction”
/: “Division”
Presentation title 6

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

Unary Relational Operators

• Operate on ONE relation only. They include:
• SELECT (symbol: σ): Removes rows that don’t meet criteria from a
relation (equivalent to SQL WHERE clause)
• PROJECT (symbol: π): Selects desired columns from a relation
(equivalent to SQL SELECT clause)
• RENAME (symbol: ρ): Modifies schema of a relation
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The SELECT operator (σ)
• Returns subset of the tuples from a relation that satisfies a selection
condition:
𝜎 <selection condition>(𝑅) or scondition(table name)
• where <selection condition>
• may have Boolean conditions AND (^), OR (v), and NOT (¬)
• has clauses of the form: <attribute name> <comparison op> <constant value> or
<attribute name> <comparison op> <constant value>
• Applied independently to each individual tuple t in operand
• Tuple selected iff condition evaluates to TRUE
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The SELECT operator (σ): Example

• Given the following employee relation, write relational algebra
expression that selects employees whose job is Professor
ID Name Gender Dept JobType sP(R) outputs tuples of R
1000 Anderson F CS Secretary which satisfy P (predicate)
1001 Chen M INFO Professor • same schema as R
1002 Furyk M INFO Technician • In this case, result is
1003 Miles F CS Professor going to be tuples with
ID 1001 and 1003
Relational algebra: sJobType=“Professor”(employee)
Presentation title 9

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The SELECT operator (σ): Exercise

• Given the employee relation below, write relational algebra
expression that selects employees whose salary is above 30000.
ID last_name first_name age salary
1000 Anderson F 25 20000
1001 Chen M 40 30000
1002 Furyk M 45 45000
1003 Miles F 42 39000

Relational algebra:
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The SELECT operator (σ)

• The SELECT operation is commutative, that is,
σ p1(σ p2(R)) = σ cp(σ cp(R))

• The degree (number of attributes) of resulting relation from a

Selection operation is same as the degree of the Relation given.
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The SELECT operator (σ): Commutative Example

• Given the employee relation below, write relational algebra expression that
selects employees who are at least 35 years old and whose salary is above 30000.
ID last_name first_name age salary • The two expressions are
equivalent
1000 Anderson F 25 35000
• Both will return tuples with
1001 Chen M 40 30000 ID 1002 and 1003
1002 Furyk M 45 45000 • Note: for nested expressions,
the inner one is evaluated first
1003 Miles F 42 39000
Question: What is the
Relational algebra: ssalary>30000(sage>=35(employee)) intermediate result for
Relational algebra: sage>=35(ssalary>30000(employee)) each expression?
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The SELECT operator (σ): Logical AND (^) Example

• Given the EMPLOYEE relation below, write relational algebra expression that
selects employees who are at least 35 years old and whose salary is above 30000.
ID last_name first_name age salary
1000 Anderson F 25 35000 • We can write the
1001 Chen M 40 30000 previous commutative
1002 Furyk M 45 45000 expressions using the
1003 Miles F 42 39000 AND (^)
Relational algebra: ssalary>30000^age>=35 (employee)
Relational algebra: sage>=35^salary>30000 (employee)
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The PROJECT operator (p) – Equivalent to SQL SELECT

• Returns subset of selected attributes for all the tuples of a relation:
p <attribute list>(𝑅)
• Result of PROJECT operator is a set of distinct tuples
• Degree: Number of attributes in projected attribute list
• Note: Conditions can be written in selection operation but not in
projection operation
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The PROJECT operator (p): Example

• Given the employee relation below, write relational algebra
expression that projects employee last_name and salary.
ID last_name first_name age salary last_name salary
1000 Anderson F 25 20000 Anderson 20000
1001 Chen M 40 30000 Result Chen 30000
1002 Furyk M 45 45000 Furyk 45000
1003 Miles F 42 39000 Miles 39000
Note: The Project Operation
Relational algebra: plast_name,salary(employee) is equivalent to SQL
SELECT statement
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The PROJECT operator (p): Example – SQL Equivalent

• Given the employee relation below, write SQL query that returns
employee last_name and salary from it.
ID last_name first_name age salary last_name salary
1000 Anderson F 25 20000 Anderson 20000
1001 Chen M 40 30000 Result Chen 30000
1002 Furyk M 45 45000 Furyk 45000
1003 Miles F 42 39000 Miles 39000

SQL Statement: SELECT last_name, salary

FROM employee;
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The PROJECT operator (p): Exercise

• Given the employee relation below, write relational algebra
expression that projects dept and head.
last_name first_name dept head
Smith Mary Sales Secci
Adams Peter IT Peterson Result?
Singh Lovedeep Sales Secci
Kim Susan IT Peterson

Relational algebra:
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The PROJECT operator (p): Exercise – SQL Equivalent

• Given the employee relation below, write SQL query that returns
dept and head columns from it.
last_name first_name dept head
Smith Mary Sales Secci
Adams Peter IT Peterson Result?
Singh Lovedeep Sales Secci
Kim Susan IT Peterson

SQL query:
Presentation title 18

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

Combining SELECT (s) and PROJECT (p) Operators

• Returns subset of selected attributes from a relation for the tuples that
meet certain criteria:
p <attribute list>(s <criteria>(𝑅))
• The Project operator filters columns/attributes, while the Select operator
filters rows
• Note: Even basic SQL queries often require using these two operators
together.
Presentation title 19

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

Combining SELECT (s) PROJECT (p) Operators: Example
• Given the employee relation below, write relational algebra expression that
returns employee last_name and salary for employees who are at least 35 years old
and whose salary is above 30000.
ID last_name first_name age salary
1000 Anderson F 25 20000 last_name salary
1001 Chen M 40 30000 Result
Furyk 45000
1002 Furyk M 45 45000 Miles 39000
1003 Miles F 42 39000

Relational algebra: plast_name,salary(sage>=35^salary>30000(employee))

Presentation title 20

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

Combining SELECT (s) PROJECT (p) Operators: SQL Equivalent
• Given the employee relation below, write relational algebra expression that
returns employee last_name and salary for employees who are at least 35 years old
and whose salary is above 30000.
ID last_name first_name age salary
1000 Anderson F 25 20000 last_name salary
1001 Chen M 40 30000 Result
Furyk 45000
1002 Furyk M 45 45000 Miles 39000
1003 Miles F 42 39000

SQL Query: SELECT last_name, first_name FROM employee

WHERE age >=35 AND salary>30000;
Presentation title 21

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The RENAME operator (r)
• Enables you to rename either a relation, or attributes, or both.
• Rename relation
𝜌𝑆(𝑅)
• Rename attributes
𝜌(𝐵1,𝐵2,…𝐵𝑛)(𝑅)
• Rename relation and its attributes
𝜌𝑆(𝐵1,𝐵2,…,𝐵𝑛)(𝑅)
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The RENAME operator (r)

• Rename relation:

• Notation: rnew_name(R)

• E.g.: Let’s say we want to rename the employee relation to consultant

𝜌consultant(employee)
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The RENAME operator (r)

• Rename attribute(s):
• Notation: rold_name -> new_name(R)

• Let’s say we want to rename ID the employee relation to emp_id

𝜌ID -> emp_id(employee)
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RELATIONAL ALGEBRA: UNARY OPERATORS

The RENAME operator (r)

• Rename both a relation and attributes:
• Notation: rnew_name (rold_name -> new_name(R))
• Example (combine the previous 2 examples):
𝜌consultant(𝜌ID -> emp_id(employee))
Presentation title 25

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
OPERATORS FROM SET THEORY

• UNION (υ)
• INTERSECTION (∩),
• DIFFERENCE (-)
• CARTESIAN PRODUCT (x)
Presentation title 26

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
UNION OPERATION
• UNION is symbolized by ∪ symbol.
• It includes all tuples that are in tables A or in B. It R1 R2
also eliminates duplicate tuples.
• For a union operation to be valid, the following
conditions must hold –
R1 R1 ∪ R2 R2
• R and S must be the same number of attributes.
• Attribute domains need to be compatible.
• Duplicate tuples should be automatically removed.
Presentation title 27

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
UNION OPERATION
Presentation title 28

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
UNION OPERATION
Union operation
that requires
renaming entities
Presentation title 29

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
UNION OPERATION
Union operation
that requires
renaming
attributes
Presentation title 30

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
INTERSECTION OPERATION

• An intersection is defined by the

symbol ∩
• A∩B
• Defines a relation consisting of a
set of all tuple that are in both A
and B.
• However, A and B must be union-
compatible.
Presentation title 31

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
INTERSECTION OPERATION
Intersection:
Example
Presentation title 32

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
DIFFERENCE OPERATION
• Denoted by the symbol “–”.
• The result of A – B, is a relation which
includes all tuples that are in A but not in B.
• The attribute name of A has to match with
the attribute name in B.
• The two-operand relations A and B should
be either compatible or Union compatible.
• The result should be a defined relation
consisting of the tuples that are in relation
A, but not in B.
Presentation title 33

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
DIFFERENCE OPERATION

Set
Difference:
Example
Presentation title 34

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
CARTESIAN PRODUCT OPERATION

• Cartesian Product in DBMS is an operation used to merge

columns from two relations.
• Generally, a cartesian product is never a meaningful operation when
it performs alone.
• However, it becomes meaningful when it is followed by other
operations.
• It is also called Cross Product or Cross Join.
Presentation title 35

RELATIONAL ALGEBRA:
CARTESIAN PRODUCT OPERATION

Cartesian
Product:
Example