Introduction to Database

Systems
62153
Jeenan Altawaty
[email protected]
Outline
• Traditional Database Applications
• New Applications of Database Systems
• What is Database?
• What is Data?
• Database Management System (DBMS)
• Database Building
• How to Design A Database Application?
Assessment Schedule
Assessment %

Project

Presentation

Assignment

Assessment (written Exam)

Final Exam 40

Total 100%
References
• Elmasri, Ramez, and Shamkant B. Navathe. "Fundamentals of
Database Systems 7 th Edition." (2017). (Book)

• An Introduction to Database Systems, 8th Edition, C J Date (Book).

• D. Petković, Microsoft SQL Server 2019: a Beginner’s Guide, 7th

Edition, McGraw-Hill. (Book)
Traditional Database Applications
• Database and Database systems encounter with most aspects and
activities in our lives.
• Traditional database applications can be textual or numeric.
• We can find it in bank, airline reservations, hotels, computerized
library catalog.
New Applications of Database Systems
• Big Data: Social media Web sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, among many
others, has required the creation of huge databases that store
nontraditional data, such as posts, tweets, images, and video clips. New
types of database systems, often referred to as big data storage systems, or
NOSQL systems, have been created to manage data for social media
applications.
• Multimedia Databases
• Geographic information systems (GISs)
• Data warehouses and online analytical processing (OLAP) systems are
used in many companies to extract and analyze useful business information
from very large databases to support decision making
• Real-time and active database technology is used to control industrial and
manufacturing processes.
What is Database?
• A database is a collection of related data.
• Data, means known facts that can be recorded and that have implicit
meaning.
What is Data?
• Data is unorganized information, that is processed to make it
meaningful.
• It can consist of Facts, observations, perceptions, Numbers,
characters, symbols, Images or a mix of any of these.
• Data can be categorized by the level and rigidity of its structure.
• Data can be structured, semi-structured or unstructured.
Introduction
• . A database has the following implicit properties:
• A database represents some aspect of the real world, sometimes called the
miniworld or the universe of discourse (UoD). Changes to the miniworld are
reflected in the database.
• A database is a logically coherent collection of data with some inherent
meaning. A random assortment of data cannot correctly be referred to as a
database.
• A database is designed, built, and populated with data for a specific purpose.
It has an intended group of users and some preconceived applications in
which these users are interested
Database Management System (DBMS)
• DBMS is a computerized system that enables users to create and
maintain a database.

• The DBMS is a general-purpose software system that facilitates the

processes of defining, constructing, manipulating, and sharing
databases among various users and applications.
Database Building
• Defining a database involves specifying the data types, structures,
and constraints of the data to be stored in the database. The
database definition or descriptive information is also stored by the
DBMS in the form of a database catalog or dictionary; it is called
meta-data.
• Constructing the database is the process of storing the data on
some storage medium that is controlled by the DBMS.
• Manipulating a database includes functions such as querying the
database to retrieve specific data, updating the database to reflect
changes in the miniworld, and generating reports from the data.
Database Building con…
• Sharing a database allows multiple users and programs to access the
database simultaneously

• An application program accesses the database by sending queries or

requests for data to the DBMS.
Database Building con…
• Other important functions provided by the DBMS include protecting
the database and maintaining it over a long period of time.
• Protection includes system protection against hardware or software
malfunction (or crashes) and security protection against unauthorized
or malicious access.
• A typical large database may have a life cycle of many years, so the
DBMS must be able to maintain the database system by allowing the
system to evolve as requirements change over time
• To complete our initial definitions, we will call the database and
DBMS software together a database system.
Example:
University
Database
University Database Building
• To define this database, we must specify the structure of the records
of each file by specifying the different types of data elements to be
stored in each record. We must also specify a data type for each data
element within a record.
• To construct the UNIVERSITY database, we store data to represent
each student, course, section, grade report, and prerequisite as a
record in the appropriate file.
University Database Building con…
• Database manipulation involves querying and updating. Examples of
queries are as follows:
• Retrieve the transcript—a list of all courses and grades—of ‘Smith’
• List the names of students who took the section of the ‘Database’ course
offered in fall 2008 and their grades in that section
• List the prerequisites of the ‘Database’ course

• Examples of updates include the following:

• Change the class of ‘Smith’ to sophomore
• Create a new section for the ‘Database’ course for this semester
• Enter a grade of ‘A’ for ‘Smith’ in the ‘Database’ section of last semester
How to Design A Database Application?
• Design of a new application for an existing database starts with a
phase called requirements specification and analysis.
• Then, these requirements are documented in detail and transformed
into a conceptual design.
• The design is then translated to a logical design that can be expressed
in a data model implemented in a commercial DBMS.
• The final stage is physical design, during which further specification
are provided for storing and accessing the database.