COT4230

Database systems

R Redpath

6 points
* 4 hours per week
* First, second semester
* Caulfield

Objectives At the completion of this subject students should have a conceptual framework for the study of database management; understand relational database management and investigate a number of key issues central to relational systems; understand how to perform a relational database design; and have surveyed a number of recent developments in database systems.

Synopsis Objectives of database technology, data sharing, data independence, data integrity and data security, three-schema architecture. The relational data model: structures, domains, relations and attributes. Integrity constraints: entity, referential and user-defined integrity. Operations: relational algebra, relational calculus, domain and tuple calculus. Relational database design: conceptual design, logical design, physical design. Major SQL and relational systems. Network DBMS versus relational DBMS.

Assessment Examination (2 hours): 50%
* Practical work: 50%

Prescribed texts

Elmasri R and Navathe S B Fundamentals of database systems Benjamin Cummings, 1989
Hawryszkiewycz I T Database analysis and design 2nd edn, Maxwell-Macmillan, 1991