DATABASE CONCEPTS
A database system is a basically a computer-based record keeping system. The collection of
data, usually referred as the database, contains information about one particular enterprise.
A Database Management System is a set of programs that enables users to define, create
and maintain the database and provides controlled access to this database.
The primary goal of a DBMS is to provide a way to store and retrieve database information
that is both convenient and efficient. Data in a database can be added, deleted, changed, sorted,
searched, etc., using a DBMS. e.g. MySQL, Ingres, MS-Access, Oracle, etc., are the most popular
DBMS softwares.
Advantages of Database Management System
The advantages of database management system are as mentioned below:
* It minimises the duplication of data due to integrating and sharing of data files.
*It also results in a considerable saving of storage space.
* The user can rely on the results.
* It also allows the user to make different queries depending upon the situation. Any change made
can easily be updated in the database.
Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)
A relational database is a type of database which uses a relational structure, allowing us to identify
data from different tables based on a unique key field. The relational structure makes it possibly
make queries across multiple tables at once and provides a visual representation of the in the form
of a table like spreadsheet. Example: Oracle, MySQL etc
Mention at least three limitations of DBMS.
Ans. Some limitations of DBMS are given below
(i) High-Cost DBMS requires various software, hardware and highly intelligent people for operating
and maintaining the database system. It increases its cost.
(ii) Database Failure If database is corrupted due to power failure or any other reason, our valuable
data may be lost or whole system stops.
(iii) Data Quality With increased number of users accessing data directly. There are enormous
opportunities for users to damage data. So, it is not easy to provide a strategy to support multiple
users to update data simultaneously.
Describe the levels of abstraction.
Ans. There are three levels of abstraction, which are described below
(i) Internal Level It describes how the data are actually stored. This level is also known as physical
level.
(ii) Conceptual Level It describes what data are stored in the database, and what relationship exist
among them. It is also known as logical level.
(iii) External Level This level describes only part of the entire database for a particular group of
users. This level is also known as view level.
What do you mean by data independence?
Define its types.
Ans. Data independence is the ability to change the schema at one level of database system
without having to change the schema at other levels.
Data independence is of two types:
(i) Logical Data Independence It is the ability to change the conceptual schema without affecting
the external schema.
(ii) Physical Data Independence It is the ability to change the internal schema without affecting the
conceptual schema.
Define the following:
Attributes: Every column in a table has a specific name which is referred to as an
Attribute.
Tuple: Each row in a table represents a record. Thus, the rows of a table for such a
relation are known as Tuples.
Degree: The number of attributes in a relation is called the degree.
For example: The degree of Employee relation = 4
Cardinality: The number of rows (tuples) in a relation gives the Cardinality.
For example: The cardinality of Employee relation = 3
Table: Employee
ID_NO NAME PAN_NO DEPARTMENT
A101 TANMOY ROY AJPSD2256 ELECTRICAL
B505 DIPAK PAL BBASF5761 MAINTENANCE
C606 HIMADRI DAS ACEDF7614 ELECTRICAL
Primary Key: The primary key is an attribute which uniquely identifies each and every
record of a table in relational database.
In Employee table, ID_NO can be allotted as primary key as ID_NO is unique for every
employee.
Canditate key: Candidate key in SQL is a set of attributes that uniquely identify tuples
in a table. The Primary key should be selected from the candidate keys. Every table
must have at least a single candidate key. So, ID_NO and PAN_NO are the candidate
keys in table Employee.
Alternate key: Alternate key is a column or set of columns that can act as a primary key
but not selected as a primary key.
Here, in Employee table ID_NO and PAN_NO both have unique values. If we choose
ID_NO as primary key then PAN_NO will be considered as an alternate key.
A foreign key is a column or combination of columns that is used to establish and
enforce a link between the data in two tables to control the data that can be stored in
the foreign key table. So ,ROLL_NO is the foreign key if the tables Student and
Student_det are related in a database.
Table: Student
ROLL_NO NAME
50 BIKASH SEN
55 DINESH ROY
Table: Student_det
ADD_NO STREAM_NAME ROLL_NO
A001 COMPUTER SCIENCE 55
A009 BIO SCIENCE 67
Domain: A pool/set of values from which the actual values appears in a particular row
and column.
Relation: A table storing data containing rows and columns.
