In a Database Management System (DBMS), keys play an essential role in organizing and

uniquely identifying records in a table. Let's explore the different types of keys with examples to
clarify their roles.

1. Primary Key

 Definition: A Primary Key is a column (or set of columns) that uniquely identifies each
record in a table. It cannot contain NULL values, and its values must be unique.
 Example: Consider a Students table:

Students
+-----------+------------+--------+
| StudentID | Name | Email |
+-----------+------------+--------+
| 101 | Alice | [email protected] |
| 102 | Bob | [email protected] |
| 103 | Charlie | [email protected] |
+-----------+------------+--------+

 Here, StudentID is the Primary Key because it uniquely identifies each student
in the table.
 No two students can have the same StudentID, and it cannot be NULL.

2. Candidate Key

 Definition: A Candidate Key is any column or set of columns that can uniquely identify
a record. A table can have multiple candidate keys.
 Example: In the same Students table:

+-----------+------------+------------+
| StudentID | Name | Email |
+-----------+------------+------------+
| 101 | Alice | [email protected] |
| 102 | Bob | [email protected] |
| 103 | Charlie | [email protected] |
+-----------+------------+------------+

 Both StudentID and Email can be Candidate Keys because they can each
uniquely identify a student.
 While only one can be chosen as the Primary Key (e.g., StudentID), the other
(e.g., Email) can still be a candidate key.

3. Super Key

 Definition: A Super Key is any combination of columns that can uniquely identify a row
in the table. It can consist of a single column or multiple columns.
 Example: In the same Students table:
 +-----------+------------+------------+
| StudentID | Name | Email |
+-----------+------------+------------+
| 101 | Alice | [email protected] |
| 102 | Bob | [email protected] |
| 103 | Charlie | [email protected] |
+-----------+------------+------------+

 StudentID is a Super Key because it can uniquely identify each row.

 A combination of StudentID and Name (StudentID, Name) is also a Super Key,
but it contains redundant data since StudentID alone can uniquely identify rows.

4. Alternate Key

 Definition: An Alternate Key is any candidate key that is not chosen as the primary key.
It’s another potential unique identifier.
 Example: If we have StudentID as the Primary Key, Email becomes an Alternate Key
since it can also uniquely identify a student.

+-----------+------------+------------+
| StudentID | Name | Email |
+-----------+------------+------------+
| 101 | Alice | [email protected] |
| 102 | Bob | [email protected] |
| 103 | Charlie | [email protected] |
+-----------+------------+------------+

5. Foreign Key

 Definition: A Foreign Key is a column (or set of columns) in one table that refers to the
Primary Key in another table. It establishes a relationship between two tables.
 Example: Suppose we have two tables: Students and Courses. The Students table has
StudentID as the Primary Key, and the Enrollments table has StudentID as a Foreign
Key.
 Students Table:
+-----------+------------+
| StudentID | Name |
+-----------+------------+
| 101 | Alice |
| 102 | Bob |
+-----------+------------+

Enrollments Table:
+-----------+------------+------------+
| StudentID | CourseID | Grade |
+-----------+------------+------------+
| 101 | CSE101 | A |
| 102 | MAT102 | B |
+-----------+------------+------------+

 In this example, StudentID in the Enrollments table is the Foreign Key that
references the StudentID in the Students table.

6. Composite Key

 Definition: A Composite Key is a key that consists of two or more columns that together
uniquely identify a record.
 Example: In an Enrollments table, the combination of StudentID and CourseID can be
a Composite Key because the same StudentID may enroll in multiple courses, but
together with CourseID, it will uniquely identify each enrollment record.

Enrollments Table:
+-----------+------------+------------+
| StudentID | CourseID | Grade |
+-----------+------------+------------+
| 101 | CSE101 | A |
| 101 | MAT102 | B |
| 102 | CSE101 | B+ |
+-----------+------------+------------+

7. Unique Key

 Definition: A Unique Key is a column (or set of columns) that ensures all values in the
column are unique. It can accept a single NULL value, unlike a primary key.
 Example: In a Users table:

Users Table:
+-----------+------------+------------+
| UserID | Username | Email |
+-----------+------------+------------+
| 1 | user1 | [email protected] |
| 2 | user2 | [email protected] |
+-----------+------------+------------+
 The Email column can be a Unique Key, ensuring that no two users have the
same email address.