Chapter 4: Relational Algebra

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Outline

• Introduction

• Fundamental Operations (Overview)

• Selection (σ), Projection (Π), Rename (ρ)

• Cartesian Product (×), Union (∪), Intersection (∩), Set

Difference (−), Natural Join (⋈), Theta Join (⋈_θ),
Assignment (←), Outer Joins
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 Introduction

• Relational Algebra is a procedural query language over

relations.

• Inputs/Output: Takes one or two relations as input, produces

a new relation.

• Expressions: Sequences of operations form a

relational‑algebra expression tree.

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Fundamental Operations
(Overview)
• Unary operators (1 relation): Selection (σ),
Projection (Π), Rename (ρ).

• Binary (set) operators (2 relations): Cartesian

Product (×), Union (∪), Difference (−).

• Set‑theoretic roots: Union and difference require

union compatibility.
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 Selection (σ)
• Purpose: Filters rows (tuples) by a Boolean predicate.

• Notation:

Example: From Employees pick those over age 50:

EmpID Name Age

1 Alice Chen 29
2 Bob Singh 52
3 Carol Ng 42

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• yields only employees whose Age attribute is greater
than 50.
EmpID Name Age
2 Bob Singh 52

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 Projection (Π)
• Purpose: Picks columns (attributes) from a relation

• Notation:

• Example: From Employees get only names and

salaries:

EmpID (PK) Name Salary Department

1 Alice Chen 60,000 HR
2 Bob Singh 75,000 IT
3 Carol Ng 82,500 Finance

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Name Salary
Alice Chen 60,000
Bob Singh 75,000
Carol Ng 82,500

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 Example
• Original Relation: Employees
EmpID (PK) Name Age Department Salary
1 Alice Chen 29 HR 60,000
2 Bob Singh 35 IT 75,000
3 Carol Ng 42 Finance 82,500
4 Daniel Abebe 31 Marketing 68,000
5 Eva Teklu 27 Operations 58,500

• Resulting Relation: SeniorSal

EmpID Name Salary

2 Bob Singh 75,000
3 Carol Ng 82,500
4 Daniel Abebe 68,000

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 Rename (ρ)
• Purpose: Assigns new names to a relation and/or its
attributes.

• Notation:

Example:

• renames Employees to NewEmp, and attribute EmpId to

ID, Name to FullName etc.

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Example
• Rename the relation Employee to Staff.

EmpID Name Dept Salary

1 Alice Chen HR 60,000
2 Bob Singh IT 75,000
3 Carol Ng Finance 82,500

StaffID Name Department Salary

1 Alice Chen HR 60,000
2 Bob Singh IT 75,000
3 Carol Ng Finance 82,500

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Cartesian Product (×)
• Purpose: Pairs every tuple of R with every tuple of S.
• Notation:
• R×S
• Example:
• R(A,B) = {(1,2),(3,4)}
• S(C,D) = {(‘a’,10),(‘b’,20)}
• R×S = {(1,2,a,10),(1,2,b,20),(3,4,a,10),(3,4,b,20)}

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Union (∪)
• Purpose: All tuples in R or S (duplicates removed).
• Notation:
• R∪S
• Example:
• R = {(1,‘Alice’),(2,‘Bob’)}
• S = {(2,‘Bob’),(3,‘Carol’)}
• R ∪ S = {(1,‘Alice’),(2,‘Bob’),(3,‘Carol’)}

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Intersection (∩)
• Purpose: Tuples common to both R and S.
• Notation:
R∩S
• Example:
• With R and S above,
• R = {(1,‘Alice’),(2,‘Bob’)}
• S = {(2,‘Bob’),(3,‘Carol’)}
• R ∩ S = {(2,‘Bob’)}

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Set Difference (−)
• Purpose: Tuples in R but not in S.
• Notation:
R−S
• Example:
• R = {(1,‘Alice’),(2,‘Bob’)}
• S = {(2,‘Bob’),(3,‘Carol’)}
• R - S = {(1,‘Alice’)}

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 R S R×S
R.A R.B S.A S.B
A B A B
1 “a” 2 “b”
1 “a” 2 “b” 1 “a” 3 “c”
2 “b” 2 “b”
2 “b” 3 “c” 2 “b” 3 “c”

R∪S
R−S
A B
A B
1 “a”
2 “b” 1 “a”
3 “c”
S−R
R∩S
A B
A B
3 “c”
2 “b”

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Union Compatibility
• Definition: R(A₁…Aₙ), S(B₁…Bₙ) are compatible if:
• Same number of attributes n

• Domain(Aᵢ) = Domain(Bᵢ) for all I

• U, n & -.

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 Natural Join (⋈)
• Purpose: Equi‑join on all common attributes, then
remove duplicates
• Notation: R⋈S S
R
EmpID Name DeptID DeptID DeptName Location
1 Alice 10
Human Re
2 Bob 20 10 HQ
sources
3 Carol 10
20 IT Remote
4 Dave 30
40 Marketing HQ

Since DeptID is common to both, natural join will:

1.Match rows where R.DeptID = S.DeptID

2.Include each common attribute only once in the result
schema.

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 R⋈S

EmpID Name DeptID DeptName Location

Human Resour
1 Alice 10 HQ
ces
Human Resour
3 Carol 10 HQ
ces
2 Bob 20 IT Remote

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 Theta Join (⋈_θ)
• Purpose: Join on arbitrary condition θ.
• Notation: DeptID DeptName Location
EmpID Name DeptID 10 HR HQ
1 Alice 10
20 IT Remote
2 Bob 20
3 Carol 10 40 Marketing HQ
4 Dave 30

EmpID Name R.DeptID S.DeptID DeptName Location

1 Alice 10 20 IT Remote
1 Alice 10 40 Marketing HQ
2 Bob 20 40 Marketing HQ
3 Carol 10 20 IT Remote
3 Carol 10 40 Marketing HQ
4 Dave 30 40 Marketing HQ
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 Assignment (←)
• Purpose: Store intermediate result for reuse
• Notation:
• X←(expression)
• Example:

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Outer Joins
• Left (⟕): Keep all R, pad S with NULL on no-match.

• Right (⟖): Keep all S, pad R with NULL.

• Full (⟗): Keep all R ∪ S, pad NULL where needed.

• Example: List all Projects and Teams—even projects

with no teams.

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Examples: Outer Join
• Employees
EmpID Name DeptID
1 Alice 10
2 Bob 20
3 Carol 30

• Departments
DeptID DeptName
10 HR
20 IT
40 Marketing

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Left Outer Join (⟕)
• Expression:
• Keeps all rows from Employees, and fills NULLs where no
matching DeptID in Departments.
EmpID Name DeptID DeptName
1 Alice 10 HR
2 Bob 20 IT
3 Carol 30 NULL

• Carol's department (DeptID 30) has no match in

Departments, so DeptName is NULL.

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Right Outer Join (⟖)
• Expression:
• Keeps all rows from Employees, and fills NULLs where
no matching DeptID in Departments.
EmpID Name DeptID DeptName
1 Alice 10 HR
2 Bob 20 IT
NULL NULL 40 Marketing

• DeptID 40 in Departments has no match in Employees,

so EmpID and Name are NULL.

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Full Outer Join (⟗)
• Expression:

• Combines results of both left and right outer joins—keeps

all rows from both tables.
EmpID Name DeptID DeptName
1 Alice 10 HR
2 Bob 20 IT
3 Carol 30 NULL
NULL NULL 40 Marketing

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Thank You!!

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