91.309/310 Database I & II Prof. Cindy Chen
What is a database? A database is a very large, integrated collection of data. A database management system (DBMS) is a software package designed to store and manage data efficiently, e.g., MS Access, MySQL, IBM DB2, Oracle, MS SQL Server.
Database applications Banking: all transactions Airlines: reservations, schedules Universities: registration, grades Sales: customers, products, purchases Manufacturing: production, inventory, orders, supply chain Human resources: employee records, salaries, tax deductions Databases touch all aspects of our lives.
Why use databases? Efficient storage Ease of use Integrity check Atomicity of updates Concurrent access by multiple users Security/access control
Why study databases? It’s fun! –Interesting projects There are jobs! –More than 1000 database related job openings posted on monster.com within the past 24 hours Database developers/analysts Database administrators (DBA) Database architect Etc.
The course pair Database I –What everybody needs to know about databases – how to be an effective user of databases Database II –What you need to know to be a database guru and make big bucks
A sample database