A brief introduction to databases

In reference to Wikipedia, a database is “an organized collection of information” that can be accessed easily or can be updated and managed. Proper consultancy and well management is the key term behind a successful database system.

A database system can be interpreted in multiple ways such as:

1. The pure text data itself.
2. The process of storing data.
3. The database management system or in short DBMS

DBMS is computer software that is designed to create and manipulate databases.

To be seen as “real” database, a database must meet the following requirements:

• Must have the capacity to store data.
• Can be accessed and searched easily.
• Must be editable.
• Must have the capacity to remove data without causing any harm to the system.

One important rule to keep in mind: “Data may not be stored twice.”

Database Normalization:

It is often difficult to find a good way to organize the information in parts. Especially it is more difficult to organize a database system. Database normalization is one of the most effective processes to simplify the data. Many theoretical models are developed and a lot of books are written about this. Chris Date, Ted Codd and Charles Bachman are some famous names in this field.

Index:

A database is much more than a digital archive. Index is an essential addition in database systems to make it more effective. It is the process to store data in a way that make the search simpler. Inan index, data can be divided into parts that can be searched for. For example, a person’s information can be divided in his first name, surname and address. One can also create multiple Indexes. In the rational model, data can be stored in different columns but in the same row. It helps to make it clearer that these data belong together. This process speeds up the search in the database. For example, if one searches for all persons with a zip code among 1000-2000, the specific field zip code can be evaluated. By this way other fields can be ignored easily.

However, these are some basic information for those who are really interested in database systems.

Thank you for reading. I am done for now. You can write to me for any query. I wish you a lot of success.

Stijn.

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