Lesson 1 - Introduction To Database Systems

Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Information Systems
(BIS)
INFO137: Database Systems
Mr. F. Zinyowera
0712 088 529 / 0773 008 254
[email protected]
Announcements
1. Course outline
2. Assignments to be submitted on the portal, take note of deadlines
3. Coursework constitutes 30% of final mark
4. Final examination constitutes 70%
Lecture Outline
 Types of Databases and Database Applications
 Data Management
• Manual file systems
• Computer file processing systems

• Limitations of file processing systems
 The Database System Approach
 Evolution of Databases
Learning Outcomes
 By the end of the lecture students should be able to:
1. Describe different database applications;
2. Describe the traditional file processing system;
3. Explain the limitations of file processing systems;
4. Differentiate file processing systems from the database system

approach;
5. Describe the evolution of database systems.

Introduction
 Most of us encounter several activities every day that involve some

interaction with a database. Databases are responsible for many of the
services we utilise daily:
• if we go to the bank to deposit or withdraw funds,
• if we make a hotel or airline reservation,
• if we do a DSTV subscription,
• if we purchase from a supermarket.

Types of Databases
1. Traditional database applications in which most of the information that is

stored and accessed is either textual or numeric.
2. New applications of database systems: social media web sites, such as
Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr, among many others make use of huge databases
that store non-traditional 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.
3. Multimedia databases- store images, audio clips, and video streams digitally.
4. Geographic information systems (GISs) can store and analyze maps,
weather data, and satellite images.
Applications of databases
 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.
Data Management
1. Manual filing system

2. Traditional File Processing Systems
3. Database System approach
Data Management
How did it start?

 It started with the Manual filing system
 Manual file is set up to hold all external and internal correspondence relating
to a project, product, task, client, or employee.
Data Management
Traditional File Processing Systems
 When computer-based data processing was first available, there were no

databases.
 To be useful for business applications, computers had to store, manipulate,

and retrieve large files of data. Computer file processing systems were
developed for this purpose.
 Writing customized programs to access data stored in computer files.

Data Management
Traditional File Processing Systems cont’d

 Each user defines and implements the files needed for a specific software
application as part of programming the application.
 Data definition part of app programs
Data Management
Traditional File Processing Systems cont’d

Data Management: File Systems
Data Management: File System vs Database System
Limitations of File Systems
1. Program-data dependence
2. Duplication of data
3. Separation and Isolation of data
4. No data security
5. Incompatible file formats
6. Difficulty in accessing data
7. Integrity problems
8. Concurrent-access anomalies
Limitations of File Systems
1. Program-data dependence : in file processing systems, files and records

were described by specific physical formats that were coded into
the application program by programmers.
2. Duplication of data : Often the same information is stored in more than one
file.
 duplication is wasteful, it costs time and money to enter the data more
than once, it takes up additional storage space, with associated costs and
duplication can lead to loss of data integrity
3. Separation and Isolation of data : to make a decision, a user might need
data from two separate files.
 Because data are scattered in various files, and files may be in different
formats, writing new application programs to retrieve the appropriate data
is often difficult and costly.
4. Data Security: Data should be secured from unauthorized access, for

example a student in a college should be able to view his or her own results
only.
 Such kinds of security constraints are difficult to apply in file processing
systems or require complex programming skills.
Research on these limitations of file processing systems
1. Incompatible file formats

2. Difficulty in accessing data
3. Integrity problems
4. Atomicity problems
5. Concurrent-access anomalies
Data Management
 The Database System approach

 data stored in a database accessed is through applications
 Databases and database technology have had a major impact on the

growing use of computers.
 Databases play a critical role in almost all areas where computers are used,
including business, electronic commerce, social media, engineering,
medicine, genetics, law, education, and library science.
Database System Approach
 A database is a collection of related data.

A shared collection of logically related data and a
description of this data, designed to meet the
information needs of an organization.
 The DBMS is a general-purpose software

system that facilitates the processes of
defining, constructing, manipulating, and
sharing databases among various users
and applications.
 An application program accesses the

database by sending queries or requests
for data to the DBMS. A query typically
causes some data to be retrieved; a
transaction may cause some data to be
read and some data to be written into the
Why databases?
 Databases can store huge volumes of records efficiently, taking up little space.
 It is very quick and easy to find information.
 It is easy to add new data and to edit or delete old data.
 Data can be searched easily, for example, ‘find all BIS students’.
 Data can be sorted quickly, for example, into ‘alphabetic’ order.
 Data can be imported into other applications, for example, a mail-merge letter to
students telling them the different times they should come to present their projects.
 More than one person can access the same database at the same time (i.e. multi-
access).
 Security may be better than in paper files (through the use of passwords and user-
access rights/permissions).
Evolution of Databases
Early Database Applications Using Hierarchical and Network

Systems
 Many early database applications maintained records in large organizations

such as corporations, universities, hospitals, and banks.
 In many of these applications, there were large numbers of records of similar

structure.
 data model in which the data are organized into a tree-like structure.
Hierarchical and Network Systems

Relational Databases
 originally proposed to separate the physical storage of data from its
conceptual representation and to provide a mathematical foundation for data
representation and querying.
 The relational data model also introduced high-level query languages that
provided an alternative to programming language interfaces, making it much
faster to write new queries.
Relational Database
 Relational systems developed in the late
1970s
 Commercial relational database

management systems (RDBMS)
introduced in the early 1980s.
 Examples Oracle, MS Access, MS

SQL Server, MySQL, Postgres
Object-Oriented Applications
 The emergence of object-oriented programming languages in the 1980s and
the need to store and share complex, structured objects led to the
development of object-oriented databases (OODBs).
 Initially, OODBs were considered a competitor to relational databases, since

they provided more general data structures.
 Incorporated many of the useful object-oriented paradigms, such as abstract
data types, encapsulation of operations, inheritance, and object identity.
 However, the complexity of the model and the lack of an early standard
contributed to their limited use.
World Wide Web

 www provides a large network of interconnected computers.
 Users can create static Web pages using a Web publishing language, such
as Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML), and store these documents on
Web servers where other users (clients) can access them and view them
through Web browsers.
 Starting in the 1990s, electronic commerce (e-commerce) emerged as a
major application on the Web.
 Much of the critical information on e-commerce Web pages is dynamically
extracted data from DBMSs, such as flight information, product prices, and
product availability.
Emergence of Big Data Storage Systems and NOSQL

Databases
 In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the proliferation of applications
and platforms such as social media Web sites, large e-commerce companies,
Web search indexes, and cloud storage/backup led to a surge in the amount
of data stored on large databases and massive servers.
 New types of database systems were necessary to manage these huge
databases systems that would provide fast search and retrieval as well as
reliable and safe storage of non-traditional types of data, such as social
media posts and tweets.
End of Slide…

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Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Information Systems

INFO137: Database Systems

 Types of Databases and Database Applications

• Manual file systems

• Computer file processing systems

 The Database System Approach

 By the end of the lecture students should be able to:

1. Describe different database applications;

2. Describe the traditional file processing system;

3. Explain the limitations of file processing systems;

4. Differentiate file processing systems from the database system

5. Describe the evolution of database systems.

 Most of us encounter several activities every day that involve some

• if we make a hotel or airline reservation,

• if we purchase from a supermarket.

1. Traditional database applications in which most of the information that is

 Data warehouses and online analytical processing (OLAP) systems are

1. Manual filing system

How did it start?

Traditional File Processing Systems

 When computer-based data processing was first available, there were no

 To be useful for business applications, computers had to store, manipulate,

 Writing customized programs to access data stored in computer files.

Traditional File Processing Systems cont’d

Traditional File Processing Systems cont’d

1. Program-data dependence : in file processing systems, files and records

4. Data Security: Data should be secured from unauthorized access, for

1. Incompatible file formats

 The Database System approach

 Databases and database technology have had a major impact on the

 A database is a collection of related data.

 The DBMS is a general-purpose software

 An application program accesses the

Early Database Applications Using Hierarchical and Network

 Many early database applications maintained records in large organizations

 In many of these applications, there were large numbers of records of similar

Hierarchical and Network Systems

 Commercial relational database

 Examples Oracle, MS Access, MS

 Initially, OODBs were considered a competitor to relational databases, since

World Wide Web

Emergence of Big Data Storage Systems and NOSQL

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