Assignment 3: Understanding the Basics of Databases

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Assignment 3: Understanding the Basics of Databases School University CIS 106 – Introduction to Information Technology Professor Date Understanding the Basics of Databases Databases are used to organize a collection of data, allowing for easy access, retrieval, and use of information. The first databases were slow at processing information and inconsistent when applications would require the same information, but kept in different files. Relational databases, normalization, and Structured Query Language have improved the efficiency of databases. To be a proficient database programmer, one should have a basic understanding of rational databases, normalization, Structured Query Language, and the use of database models. Relational Database The use of shared files reduced the problem with inconsistencies but was still not an efficient in accessing information. In the 1970s, a man named Ted Codd came up with the idea of the relational model for databases (Ward & Dafoulas, 2006). Similar to a spreadsheet, the relational model was based on tables, rows, and columns. Relational databases, allows the user to compare information quickly because of the logical arrangement of data in columns. The speed at which data was accessed was made possible by the development of the structured query language (SQL) query language. Because of the uniformity of relational database, completely new tables can be created from information already in existing tables. In other words, the database uses the relationship of similar information to increase the speed and use. The process of normalization was developed to standardize databases. Normalization With the millions of databases around the world, a set of rules evolved in order standardize how databases are designed. Database normalization is the process of organizing the fields and tables of a database to reduce

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