Chapter 8: Introduction of Database Management System
A database is an organized collection of data that is maintained electronically. Any kind
of data like text, numbers, pictures, videos and files can be stored in a database. This
data can be stored, retrieved and edited using software known as a database
management system.
Data and Information
Data – Data is a collection of facts which do not have any meaning. This data is
unstructured information such as numbers, text, symbols and images.
Information – Information depends on data, this information has some meaning.
This Information refers to organized and structured data.
Databases and DBMS
Database – A database is a collection of logically related data items stored in an
organized manner, It is also considered as a data bank.
DBMS (Database Management System) – This software that is used to create,
update and retrieve data is known as database management system. Some of the
common examples of DBMS are LibreOffice Base, MS Access, Open Office
Base, Oracle, MySQL.
Advantages of DBMS
Organized Storage – In database data are stored in an organized manner, so
that retrieval of the data is fast and accurate.
Data Analysis – In database you can retrive the data based on certain criteria for
example average, maximum or minimum value etc.
Data Sharing – Databases can share the data with other applications.
Minimal Data Redundancy – In database duplicate data is not allowed, it means
that same data will not be repeated in the table.
Data Consistency – In database if any record is changed in any one of the tables
then the same data will update in other tables also.
Increase Efficiency – In the database the data is organized which helps to
retrieve and search data efficiently.
Increases Accuracy – In the database the data is retrieved accurately from the
database.
Increases Validity – In the database the valid data is being entered and checked
by the database.
Security – Unauthorized access is not allowed in the database.
Data Models
A database can be designed in different ways dependent on data storage. This structure
of the database is known as a data model. The data models describe the relationships
between the data.
There are different data models such as –
Hierarchical data model
Network data model
Relational data model
Hierarchical Data Model
In Hierarchical Data Model the data is organized like tree structure and data is stored in
the form of a table.
Network Data Model
In this model, multiple records are linked to the same master file. This network model is
considered as a tree where the master table present in the bottom and other tables
linked to the master table.
Relational Data Model
In relational data models are based on relationships between two or more tables of the
same database. This is the most popular data model.
Relational Database Model
E. F. Codd given the concept of Relational Database Model in 1970. The most popular
type of database model is the relational model. In relational database models the data
elements are stored in different tables, this table is related through the common fields.
Relational Database Terminology
Some of the common terms used in RDBMS.
Entity – Entity is a piece of data that is stored in the database, for example
student rollno, name and age is the entity of the student record.
Table – Table is a collection of logically related records, It is organized as a set of
columns.
Field or Columns or attributes – The smallest entity in the database is known
as field, a collection of fields is known as record, a collection of records make a
table and a collection of tables make a database.
Data Values – Data values are raw data represented in character, numeric or
alphanumeric.
Record or Row – The collection of data values of all the fields are known as
record.
Primary Key – The field which uniquely identifies a row in a table. The primary
key used to be a unique identifier for the table.
Relational Database – A relational database is a collection of related tables.
Foreign Key – The field or a combination of fields of one table can be used to
uniquely identify records of another table, then that particular field is known as the
foreign key.
Candidate Key – All the field values that are eligible to be the primary key are the
candidate key for that table.
Alternate Key – One or two fields in the table are made as primary key but others
are the alternate key.
Objects of an RDBMS
The database is a collection of object or a feature that is used to store, represent or
retrieve data, different types of objects in a database are given below –
Table – Table is a collection of row and column which is used to store data. The
data in the database is first stored in a table.
Form – A form is used to enter data in a table, form is the interface between
database and users, it is an easiest method to enter data in database using user
friendly manners. A form consists of a text box, radio button, labels, check box
etc.
Queries – Queries are used to retrieve the desired result from the database.
Reports – The output of any query in the database may be displayed in the form
of reports.
