Relational database

Definition
• A Database is an organized collection of structured information,
or data, typically stored electronically in a computer system.

• A Relational database is a collection of information that organizes

data in predefined relationships, where data is stored in one or more
tables (or "relations") of columns and rows, making it easy to see and
understand how different data structures relate to each other.
Relationships are a logical connection between different tables, established on the
basis of interaction among these tables.

• A relational database (RDB) is a way of structuring information in tables, rows,

and columns. An RDB has the ability to establish links—or relationships–between
information by joining tables, which makes it easy to understand and gain insights
about the relationship between various data points.
The relational database model
Developed by E.F. Codd from IBM in the 1970s, the relational database model allows any table to
be related to another table using a common attribute. Instead of using hierarchical structures to
organize data, Codd proposed a shift to using a data model where data is stored, accessed, and related
in tables without reorganizing the tables that contain them.

Think of the relational database as a collection of spreadsheet files that help businesses organize,
manage, and relate data. In the relational database model, each “spreadsheet” is a table that stores
information, represented as columns (attributes) and rows (records or tuples).

Attributes (columns) specify a data type, and each record (or row) contains the value of that specific
data type. All tables in a relational database have an attribute known as the primary key, which is a
unique identifier of a row, and each row can be used to create a relationship between different tables
using a foreign key—a reference to a primary key of another existing table.
Example 1
Let’s take a look at how the relational database model works in practice:
Say you have a Customer table and an Order table.
The Customer table contains data about the customer:
 Customer ID (primary key)
 Customer name
 Billing address
 Shipping address
In the Customer table, the customer ID is a primary key that uniquely identifies
who the customer is in the relational database. No other customer would have the
same Customer ID.
The Order table contains transactional information about an order:
 Order ID (primary key)
 Customer ID (foreign key)
 Order date
 Shipping date
 Order status
Here, the primary key to identify a specific order is the Order ID. You can connect
a customer with an order by using a foreign key to link the customer ID from the
Customer table.
• The two tables are now related based on the shared customer ID, which
means you can query both tables to create formal reports or use the data for
other applications. For instance, a retail branch manager could generate a report
about all customers who made a purchase on a specific date or figure out which
customers had orders that had a delayed delivery date in the last month.
• The above explanation is meant to be simple. But relational databases also
excel at showing very complex relationships between data, allowing you to
reference data in more tables as long as the data conforms to the predefined
relational schema of your database.
• As the data is organized as pre-defined relationships, you can query the data
declaratively. A declarative query is a way to define what you want to extract
from the system without expressing how the system should compute the result.
This is at the heart of a relational system as opposed to other systems.
Examples of relational databases
There are many relational database management systems that use the relational
database model.
A relational database management system (RDBMS) is a program used to
create, update, and manage relational databases. Some of the most well-known
RDBMSs include MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Microsoft SQL Server, and
Oracle Database.
Database Management Systems (DBMS) are software systems used
to store, retrieve, and run queries on data. A DBMS serves as an
interface between an end-user and a database, allowing users to create,
read, update, and delete data in the database.
• Cloud-based relational databases like Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner
and AlloyDB have become increasingly popular as they offer
managed services for database maintenance, patching, capacity
management, provisioning and infrastructure support .
Benefits of relational databases
The main benefit of the relational database model is that it provides an intuitive way to represent
data and allows easy access to related data points. As a result, relational databases are most
commonly used by organizations that need to manage large amounts of structured data, from
tracking inventory to processing transactional data to application logging.
There are many other advantages to using relational databases to manage and store your data,
including:
Flexibility
It is easy to add, update, or delete tables, relationships, and make other changes to data whenever
you need without changing the overall database structure or impacting existing applications.
ACID compliance
Relational databases support ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) performance to
ensure data validity regardless of errors, failures, or other potential mishaps.
Four crucial properties define relational database transactions: atomicity,
consistency, isolation, and durability—typically referred to as ACID.
 Atomicity defines all the elements that make up a complete database
transaction.
 Consistency defines the rules for maintaining data points in a correct state after
a transaction.
 Isolation keeps the effect of a transaction invisible to others until it is
committed, to avoid confusion.
 Durability ensures that data changes become permanent once the transaction is
committed.
Ease of use
It is easy to run complex queries using SQL, which enables even non-technical
users to learn how to interact with the database.
Collaboration
Multiple people can operate and access data simultaneously. Built-in locking
prevents simultaneous access to data when it’s being updated.
Built-in security
Role-based security ensures data access is limited to specific users.
Database normalization
Relational databases employ a design technique known as normalization that
reduces data redundancy and improves data integrity.
Relational vs. Non-relational databases
• The main difference between relational and non-relational databases
(NoSQL databases) is how data is stored and organized. Non-
relational databases do not store data in a rule-based, tabular way.
Instead, they store data as individual, unconnected files and can be
used for complex, unstructured data types, such as documents or rich
media files.
• Unlike relational databases, NoSQL databases follow a flexible
data model, making them ideal for storing data that changes
frequently or for applications that handle diverse types of data.