Database Engineering Assignment 1 EE-436

Summary of Chapter 1
A database is a collection of related data. Data are known facts that can be recorded and have implicit
meaning. Some implicit properties of the database are; it represents some aspects of the real world, it is a
logically coherent collection of data with some inherent meaning, it has an intended group of users and
some pre-conceived applications in which these users are interested. Database Management System
(DBMS) is a general-purpose software system that facilitates the processes of defining, constructing,
manipulating, and sharing databases among various users and applications.
A database system contains not only the database itself but also a complete definition or description of the
database structure and constraints called meta-data. In database systems, there is no program-data
dependency hence any changes to the structure of a file does not require changing all the programs that
access that file. This property is called Data Abstraction. DBMS supports multiple views of the data so
each user might see a different view of the database, which describes only the data of interest to that user.
A DBMS must include Concurrency Control Software to ensure that several users trying to update the
same data do so in a controlled manner so that the result of the updates is correct.
Database Administrators are responsible for authorizing access to the database, for coordinating and
monitoring its use, acquiring software and hardware resources, controlling its use and monitoring
efficiency of operations whereas Database Designers are responsible to define the content, structure,
constraints, and functions or transactions against the database. A Transaction is an executing program or
process that includes one or more database accesses, such as reading or updating of database records.
There are several categories of database end users; casual, naïve, sophisticated, and stand-alone. To
control redundancy is one of the most important feature of DBMS, on the other hand in traditional file
approach, each group independently keeps its own file. DMBS also provides a persistent storage for
program objects and, a restricted authorized access. But DBMS has some downsides; it has high initial
investment in hardware, software, and training and there is overhead for overhead for security,
concurrency control, recovery, and integrity functions.

Summary of Chapter 2
Database approach provides data abstraction through a Data Model. On the basis of the types of concepts
they use to describe the database structure, Data Models have been classified into conceptual, physical,
and representational. To distinguish between the description of the database and the database itself, the
description is called Database Schema and a displayed schema is called a Schema Diagram. The data in
the database at a particular moment in time is called a Database State. The schema is referred to as
intension, while the database state is called an extension of the schema.
Three-Schema Architecture is an architecture of database systems which aims to separate the user
applications from the physical database. The three levels of this architecture are internal, conceptual, and
external. Database Management Systems (DBMS) transform a request specified on an external schema
into a request against the conceptual schema, and then into a request on the internal schema for
processing over the stored database. This processes of transforming requests and results between levels
are called mappings.
DBMS must provide appropriate languages for each type of users. If there is no strict separation between
the levels of schema, then Data Definition Language (DDL) is used to specify conceptual and internal
schema, otherwise Storage Definition Language (SDL) is used to specify the internal schema and DDL
specifies conceptual schema only. View definition language (VDL) is often used to specify user views

Niha Ramzan 2016-EE-152

Database Engineering Assignment 1 EE-436

and their mappings to the conceptual schema. For data manipulation (retrieval, insertion, deletion, and
modification) Data Manipulation Language (DML) is used.

Niha Ramzan 2016-EE-152