Module Identifier | CSM1310 | ||
Module Title | DATABASES AND DATA ANALYSIS | ||
Academic Year | 2001/2002 | ||
Co-ordinator | Mr Christopher Loftus | ||
Semester | Available all semesters | ||
Semester | Available all semesters | ||
Course delivery | Contact Hours | 34 Hours plus about 45 hours of self study and practical work | |
Assessment | Exam | 2 Hours | 100% |
Further details | http://www.aber.ac.uk/compsci/ModuleInfo/CSM1310 |
Relational Algebra - 4 Lectures
Definition of a relation. Standard relational operators. Referential integrity.
Normalisation - 4 Lectures
Functional dependencies. Normalisation: first to fifth normal forms, domain/key normal form. Bottom up analysis.
Relational Modelling - 4 Lectures
Top down analysis. Enterprise modelling. Entities and relationships. Connection traps. The design of relations. Transformation of an E-R model into a relational schema.
Implementing a Database Using Access - 3 Practicals
Overview of the facilities provided by Access. Queries, queries as views. Built-in functions. Forms and reports. Event handling.
SQL - 2 Lectures
Outline of the language. The language as an implementation of the relational model. DDL as a contrast to Access facilities. Nested queries and sub-queries.
Missing values - 1 Lecture
The need for nulls. Theoretical and practical problems. Null values and the outer join.
Application programs - 2 Lectures
Procedural interfaces. SQL in applications programs. The data dictionary. General integrity constraints: DBMS facilities versus application code. Interoperability of database systems. Back up and recovery.
Distributed Databases, Concurrency and Transactions - 2 Lectures
Introduction to concurrency. What is a distributed database, why should one wish to use one, and what problems will it bring? Transaction processing. Backup and recovery.
Data Models - 1 Lecture
Hierarchical and network models: how they relate to the relational model. Introduction to object-oriented DBMS.