Infolink University College

Hawassa Campas
Course outline
Course Title: Fundamentals Database Systems
CP/ECTS 5 ECTS / 3 CrH Study Hours
Lec: 32 Lab: 48 Tut: 32 HS: 39
Instructor’s Name: Gezahegn G.
Information Office Number: Email: [email protected]
Consultation Hour:
Course Academic Year: II
Information Semester: I
Course Schedule: Thu1,2,3
Class Room: 20
Prerequisite(s): None
Course This course is assumed to be the first course in database management systems. It
Description starts by introducing what database is and database systems, and how it differs with
the traditional file processing system. It then deals with data models, ER diagrams,
database design methods, normalization, relational algebra and calculus, file
organizations and storage management, index structure for files, and SQL statements.
The course mainly emphasizes on basics of database systems how to retrieve and
modify data. It also deals with different database environments.
Learning  This course introduces the students to the overview, design and
implementation of database systems.
Outcomes  At the end of this course, students will be able to:
 Understand what database is, database system and DBMS
 Differentiate database system from file system
 Identify the pros and cons of manual approach, file-based approach and
database approach
 Understand the basic principles of database design systems using different
database models
 Appreciate the use of database system in the real world.
 Design different types of databases
 Understand database normalization & functional dependency
 Understand the principles of relational database management systems and

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 their languages
 Understand file organizations and storage management, and index structure
for files
 Demonstrate queries in the relational algebra.
 Demonstrate queries in the tuple relational calculus.
 Create a relational database schema in SQL that incorporates key, entity
integrity, and referential integrity constraints.

Course Content
Topic (Week)

Chapter 1: Introduction to Database Systems (2 hours) Week 1

1.1.Overview
1.2.Basics of Database
1.3.File organization verses Database approach
1.4.Users and actors of Database system
1.5.Characteristics of the Database Approach
1.6.Actors on the Scene
Chapter 2: Database System Architecture (2 hours) Week 2
2.1. Data models, Schemas, and Instances
2.2. Over view of data models
2.3. Architecture and Data Independence
2.4. Database Language and Interface
2.5. The Database System Environment
2.6. Classification of DBMS
Chapter 3: Database Modeling (5 hours) Week 3-5
3.1. The Entity Relationship (ER) Model
3.1.1. The high-level conceptual model
3.1.2. Entities, Attributes, and Keys
3.1.3. Relationships, Associations, and Constraints
3.1.4. The ER Diagrams
3.1.5. Mapping ER-models to relational tables
3.2. Enhanced Entity Relationship (EER) Model
3.2.1. Inheritance
3.2.2. Union
3.2.3. Aggregation and Association
3.2.4. Mapping EER model to relational model
3.3. The Relational Database Model
3.3.1. The Relational Model Concepts
3.3.2. The Relational Constraints and Relational Database Schemas
3.3.3. The Relational Operations
Chapter 4: The SQL Language (6 hours) Week 5-8

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 4.1. Structured Query Language
4.2. Data types
4.3. DDL, DML, TCL and DCL
4.4. Basic Queries in SQL
4.5. Nested Queries in SQL
4.6. Views
4.7. Comments Constraints

Chapter 5: Functional Dependency and Normalization (4 hours) Week 8-10

5.1. Functional Dependency
5.2. Normal Forms
5.2.1. First Normal Form
5.2.2. Second Normal Form
5.2.3. Third Normal Form
5.2.4. Boyce Codd Normal Form
Chapter 6: The Relational Algebra and Relational Calculus (5 hours) 10-13
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Relational Algebra
6.3. The Relational Calculus
Chapter 7: Record Storage and Primary File Organization (5 hours) Week 13-15
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Operations on Files
7.3. Files of Unordered Records (Heap Files)
7.4. Files of Ordered Records (Sorted Files)
7.5. Hashing Techniques
7.6. Index Structure for Files
7.7. Types of Single Level Ordered Index
7.8. Dynamic Multilevel indexes using B-Trees and B+ Trees
Indexes on Multiple Indexes
Exam Week Week 15-16

Minimum laboratory activities for this course:

Week 1 Database modeling
Week 2 Introduction and Software Installation
1.1. (Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle DB)
1.2. Data Definition Language
1.3. Data definition and data types in SQL
Week 3 Data Manipulation Language
1.1. Specifying Constraints in SQL
1.2. Querying from tables (insert, select, delete, update)

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Week 4 More Complex SQL Retrieval Queries 1
1.1. Sorting (ascending, descending) using ORDER BY, DESC and ASC
1.2. group by, order by, having, wildcards, and regular expressions
Week 5 More Complex SQL Retrieval Queries 2
1.1. Aggregate Functions in SQL
1.2. Null value & Keywords in SQL
1.3. Auto Increment, alter, drop, rename in SQL
Week 6 More Complex SQL Retrieval Queries 3
1.1. Joins
Week 7 More Complex SQL Retrieval Queries 4
1.1. Unions, intersections, differences
Week 8 Views
Week 9 SQL Functions 1
1.1. String Functions
Week 10 SQL Functions 2
1.1. Numeric/Math Functions
Week 11 SQL Functions 3
1.1. Date/Time Functions

Week 12 SQL Functions 4

Conversion Functions
Week 13 SQL Functions 5
Advanced Functions in SQL
Week 14 Complex SQL Queries
File Organization and Indexes
Required tools Microsoft SQL Server
Teaching The teaching methods that shall be employed for this course are lecturing,
demonstration, classroom discussion and classroom action research.
Strategy
Assessment The evaluation shall be based on both formative and summative assessment which
Criteria include:
Assessment Forms % of credit allotted
• Quiz 10
• Test 30
• Mini Project Work 20
• Final Exam 40

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