1.

Why Databases

2. Ubiquity and Pervasiveness of Data

Data is described as abundant, global, and everywhere in today's world.

Data is unescapable, prevalent, and persistent nature and it exists from birth to death.

Individuals continuously generate and consume a lot of data throughout their lives.

It starts with birth certificates and extends to death certificates, highlighting the lifelong
data generation process.

3. Importance of Databases

Databases are the optimal solution for storing and managing data effectively.

Databases make data persistent, shareable, and secure, addressing the challenges posed
by the sheer volume of generated data.

4. Business Necessity for Data

Data is considered essential for the survival and prosperity of organizations.

It is impossible to operate a business without crucial data on customers, products,

employees, and financial transactions.

5. Role of Business Information Systems:

Help businesses use information as an organizational resource.

Help in collection, storage, aggregation, manipulation, dissemination, and management

of data.

6. Challenges in Data Management

Businesses are not able to store and retrieve huge collections of data

Databases are the solution to efficiently process, store, and retrieve vast amounts of
data for timely decision-making.

7. Databases as Specialized Structures

Databases are specialized structures allowing computer-based systems to store,

manage, and retrieve data very quickly.

2. Data verses information

 Data- raw facts (facts that have not been processed to reveal their meaning)

Information-is the processed raw data

Importance of processing data- helps in decision making

Database- is shared integrated computer structure that stores a collection of data

End user data- raw facts interested to the end user

Metadata- the data characteristics and the set of relationship that links the data found
within the database.

Database management systems- is the collection of programs that manages the

database structure and controls access to the data stored in the database
Roles of DBMS-serves as an intermediary between the user and the database

Advantages of DBMS

 It improves data sharing

 It improves data security
 It helps in better data integration
 It minimizes data inconsistency
 It improves Data access
 It improves decision making
 It increases end user productivity

Types of databases

Single user database- supports only one user at a time

Desktop database- single user database that runs on personal computer

Multiuser database- support multiple users at a time

Workgroup database- when multiuser database supports relatively small number of users

Enterprise database –when the database is used by the entire organization

Centralized database – Database that supports data located on the single site

Distributed database – database that supports data distributed across several different sites

Cloud database- Database that is created and maintained using cloud data services

General purpose database- contains a wide variety of data used in different disciplines

Discipline specific database- contains data focused on specific subject.

 Operational database (online transaction processing database, transactional database, or
production database) – It supports day-to day company operation.

Analytical database- stores historical data and business metrics used exclusively for tactical or
strategic decision making.

Database warehouse: stores data in format optimized for decision support.

Online analytical processing: is set of tools that work together to provide an advanced data
analysis environment for retrieving, processing and modelling data from the data warehouse

Unstructured data- data that exists in its raw state

Structured data: formatted raw data to facilitate storage, use and generation of information.

Semi-structured data-data that has already been structured to some extent

Extensible markup Language - is a specialized language used to manipulate data elements in

textual formats

Database design- activities that focus on the design on the design of the database structure that
will be used to store and manage end-user data.

Problems with file data management

 Lengthy development time

 Difficulty in getting quick answers
 Complex system administration
 Lack of security and limited data sharing
 Extensive programing

Structure and Data independence-

Structural dependence- access to the file is dependent on the structure

Structural independence- exist when you can change the file structure without affecting the
applications’ ability to access data

Logical data format – how human being view data

Physical data format- How computers must work with the data

Data redundancy: occurs when the same data is stored unnecessarily at different places
 Effects of data Redundancy

 Poor data security

 Data inconsistency
 Data entry errors
 Data integrity problems

Data anomalies- develops when not all of the required changes in the redundant data are made
successfully

Types of data anomalies

 Update anomalies
 Insertion anomalies
 Deletion anomalies

Database system environment- is an organization of components that define and regulate the
collection, storage, management and use of data within database environment.

 Components of system environments:

Hardware i.e. routers, Pcs, tablets, supercomputers
 Software i.e. Linus, UNIX
 People
 Procedure
 Data

Functions of DBMS

 Data dictionary management

 Data storage management
 Data transformation
 Data presentation

Disadvantages of database systems

o Increased cost
o Management complexities
o Maintaining currency
o Vendor dependence
o Needs frequent upgrades

Chapter 2

Data model: is the simple representation, usually graphical of more complex real world data
structure
Importance of Data Models
It facilitates interaction among the designer, the application programmer and end user

Balding blocks of data modelling

Entity- a person, place, thing or event about which data will be collected and stored

Attributes – characteristic of an entity

Relationships – describes association among entities. Designers usually use shorthand notations
to represent one-to-many, many-to-many and one-to-one [1: M or M:N or *..* and 1:1 or 1..1
respectively]

Constraints- itis the restriction placed on data. They ensure data integrity and are expressed
inform of rules.

Business rules: is a brief, precise and unambiguous description of policy, procedure, or principle
within specific organization

The main source of business rules are company managers, policy makers, department managers
and written documentation such as company’s procedures, manuals and standards.

Importance of documenting business rules

 It helps to standardize the company’s view of data

 It can be a communication tool between users and designers
 It allows designers to understand the nature, role and scope of data
 It allows designers to understand business processes
 It allows designers to develop appropriate relationship participation rule and constraints
and to create accurate data models

Evolution of data models

The quest for better a better data management model led to the development of several models
Hierarchical model – developed in 1960 to manage large amount of complex data

-the model is represented by an upside down tree

-used by Apollo rocket to land to the moon in 1969

-Has level or segments

Segment: it is the equivalent of the files system’s record type

Network model: represents complex data relationship more effectively than hierarchical model
to improve data performance and impose a database standard

Schema- is the conceptual organization of the entire database as viewed by the database
administrator.

Subschema – it defines the portion of the database “seen” seen by the application programs
that actually produce the desired information from the data within the
database.

Schema data definition language- enables the database administrator to define the schema
components.

A data manipulation language- defines environment in which data can be managed and it is
used to work with the data within the database.

Relational model- introduced in 1970 by E.F Codd

-it was the major breakthrough the designers

-has the ability to hide complexities

 Relational diagram- is the representation of the relational database’s entities,
the attributes within those entities and the relationship within those entities.

Parts of any SQL relational database application

 The end user interface

 A collection of tables stored in Database
 SQL engine

Entity relationship model (Components)

 Entity –anything about which data will be collected and stored

 Entity instance or occurrence- Each raw in relational table
 Entity set- a collection of like entities

Object oriented Model (components) – also called sematic data model because it indicates
meaning

Inheritance- is the ability of the object within the class hierarchy to inherit the attributes and
methods of the classes above it.

UML class diagram- are used to represent data and its relationship within the upper UML object
oriented systems modeling language

Object/relational and XMl

Emerging data models [Big data and NoSQL]

Big Data: is the movement to find new and better ways to manage large amount of web-and
sensor generated data and drive business insight from it while simultaneously providing high
performance and scalability at a reasonable cost.

Volume, Velocity and variety (3V’’s format)

Volume- amount of data being stored

Velocity- it is the speed with which data grows and the need to process this data quickly in order
to generate information and insight.

Variety- refers to the data being collected comes in multiple different data formats.

Big data technologies –Hadoop- is java based, open source, high speed, fault tolerant
distributed storage and computational framework

-Uses low cost hardware and it originated from google

- Has two components; Hadoop distributed file system and

MapReduce
 a. Hadoop distributed files system-highly distributed, fault tolerant,
high speed, uses write once read many model. Has three nodes; name
node, data node and client node

b. Map reduce – is an open source application programing interface

that provides first data analytics

- works with structure and nanostructured data

-Provides two functions- map and reduce

-NoSQL- a large scale distributed database system

- stores both structural and nonstructural data

-refers to the new generation of databases that addresses

specific challenges of the big data era

Characteristics of No SQL Database

 Not based on the relational model or SQL hence name NoSQL

 Support highly distributed databases
 Highly available, scalable, fault tolerant
 Supports very large amount of sparse data

Chapter 3
Tables and their characteristics
A table- is a two dimensional structure composed of rows and columns

- Also called relation because the relational model creator E.F Codd used the two terms as
synonyms.

Characteristics of relational tables

- perceived as s two dimensional structure composed of rows and columns

- Each row represent a single entity
- Each column represent an attribute and each column has distinct name
- Each intersection of rows and column represent a single data value
- All values in the column must conform to the same data format
- Each column has specific range of values known as attribute domain
- the order of the rows and column is immaterial to the DBMS
 - Each table must have an attribute or combination of attributes that uniquely identify each
row

Primary key (PK) - is an attribute or combination of attributes that uniquely identifies any given row.

Keys: - ensure each row in a table is uniquely identifiable

- also used to establish relationship in tables

Dependencies:

Determination is the in which knowing the value of the attribute makes it possible to determine the
value of another.

Functional dependencies- relationship based on determination

Determinant- is the attribute in a functional dependency whose value determines another.

Dependent- is the attribute whose value is determined by the other attribute.

Full functional dependence –is a functional dependencies in which the entire collection of attributes in
the determinant is necessary for the relationship.

Types of Keys

Composite key – key composed of one attribute

Key attributes – an attribute that is part of the key

Super key – a key that can uniquely identify any row in a table

Candidate key- one specific type of super key

Primary key- a candidate key selected to identify all other attribute value in a a given row, cannot
contain null entry

Foreign key- an attribute or combination of attributes in one table whose value must either much the
primary key in other table

Entity integrity- is the condition in which each row in a table has its own unique identity

To ensure entity integrity, the primary key has two requirements:

- All values in the primary key must be unique

- No key attribute in the primary key can contain null

Relational algebra- defines the theoretical way of manipulating table content using relational operators.