Module Identifier CS27420  
Module Title Commercial Database Solutions  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Mr Rhys Parry  
Semester Semester 2 (Taught over 2 semesters)  
Other staff Mr Rhys Parry, Mr Richard C Shipman, Mr David J Smith  
Co-Requisite CS27020  
Course delivery Lecture   Up to 40 lectures  
  Seminars / Tutorials   11 two hour practical sessions  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Practical 1 (mainly formative)  10%
Semester Assessment Assessment is through 3 pieces of practical work, all of which will involve the use of a commercial DBMS :   
Semester Assessment Practical 3. This will involve a report of 6,000 words reflecting on what was achieved, as well as practical programming work.  80%
Semester Assessment Practical 2 (mainly formative)  10%
Supplementary Assessment This will be through 1 practical assignment equivalent to Practical 3.  100%
Further details http://www.aber.ac.uk/compsci/ModuleInfo/CS27420  

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Describe and work through the stages of the database lifecycle.

2. Analyse where an enterprise might use a database application and how data is captured and deployed.

3. Present a business case for the use of an Enterprise database solution for a typical commercial application.

4. Identify where to use stored procedures and Enterprise application code to manipulate an Enterprise class database .

Aims

It will significantly expand their practical experience of building databases, grounding that experience in the application of a commercial database tool (for example, Oracle).

This module will provide material that will enable the students to grasp the commercial potential of database technology, and understand how to apply it in specific business situations.

It will advance their knowledge of SQL programming.

Brief description

This module provides the understanding and skills necessary to build commercial database systems. This is done through studying commercial case studies of database systems and through the experience of building database systems in a commercial tool such as Oracle.

Content

Introduction and business based case studies (3 lectures)

Commercial database application lifecycle: database planning; determining the requirements and defining the system; how is data captured and how it is deployed; Enterprise modelling; DBMS selection; implementation and data conversion; testing and maintenance. (8 lectures; 11 practicals)

Stored procedures; PL/SQl; Java. (1 lecture)

Standard interfaces: Report generators; form generators; integral web and application servers; RDBMS facilities.(2 lectures)

Functions of a multi-user database management system: concurrency control; recovery services; transaction support; integrity services. (4 lectures)

Performance issues: Monitoring and tuning databases; denormalisation; security of database systems. (4 lectures)

Module Skills

Problem solving Deciding on an appropriate design when building a commercial database application  
Research skills Students will be required to acquire further knowledge from books and on-line sources  
Communication Assessed on other modules during the second year (CI22120).  
Improving own Learning and Performance The assessed coursework requires students to develop their understanding of issues associated with the module.  
Team work Assessed on other modules during the second year (CI22120).  
Information Technology The module is IT focused. Students will use computer tools to develop and run their applications  
Application of Number No  
Personal Development and Career planning The module gives students a wider view of the computing industry and potential careers.  
Subject Specific Skills Methodological skills, design skills, programming skills  

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
David M. Kroenke (2000) Database Processing: Fundamentals, design and implementation. 7th. Prentice Hall, London
Peter Rob, Carlos Coronel (2001) Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management 5th. Thomson 061906269X
Thomas Connolly and Carolyn Begg. (1998) Database Systems: A practical Approach to Design, Implementation and Management. 3rd. Addison-Wesley 0321181050
Thomas M Connolly and Carolyn E. Begg. (2003) Database Solutions: A step-by-step approach to building databases. 2nd. Addison-Wesley 0321173503

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5