Fundamentals of Database Systems: Chapter 1

Database

A collection of related data

Database Management System (DBMS)

A computerized system that enables users to create and maintain a database

Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)

A major part of database applications allowing hundreds of concurrent transactions to execute per second

Maintenance

A system's evolution as requirements change over time

Casual End-User

Accesses database occasionally when needed

Application Program

Accesses the database by sending queries and requests for data to the DBMS

Program-Data Independence

Allows changing data structures and storage organization without having to change the DBMS access programs

Sharing

Allows multiple users and programs to access the database simultaneously

Universe of Discourse (UoD)

An aspect of the real world a database represents, also known as miniworld

System Analysts

Application designers whose designs to meet the requirements of naive and sophisticated users

Transaction

Causes some data to be read and some data to be written into the database

System Designers and Implementors

Design and implement DBMS packages in the form of modules and interfaces and test and debug them. The DBMS must interface with applications, language compilers, operating system components, etc.

Tool Developers

Design and implement software systems called tools for modeling and designing databases, performance monitoring, prototyping, test data generation, user interface creation, simulation etc. that facilitate building of applications and allow using database effectively.

Not Only SQL (NOSQL)

Designed for rapid search and retrieval from documents, processing of huge graphs occurring on social networks, and other forms of unstructured data with flexible models of transaction processing

Recovery Subsystem

Ensures each completed transaction has its effect permanently recorded in the database

Manipulation

Functions such as querying the database to retrieve specific data, updating the database to reflect changes in the miniworld, and gathering reports from the data

Concurrency Control

Guarantees that each transaction is correctly executed or aborted

Application Programmers

Implement the specifications developed by analysts and test and debug them before deployment

Protection

Includes system protection against hardware or software malfunction and security protection against unauthorized or malicious access

Data

Known facts that can be recorded and that have implicit meaning

Stand-Alone End-Users

Mostly maintain personal databases using ready-to-use packaged applications

Standards

Names, display formats, screens, report structures, meta-data, web page layouts, etc. of data items

Business Analysts

People who can analyze vast amounts of business data and real time data, big data, for better decision making related to planning, advertising, marketing, etc.

Sophisticated End-Users

Professionals thoroughly familiar with the system capabilities

Database Administrators

Responsible for authorizing access to the database, coordinating and monitoring its use, acquiring software and hardware resources, controlling its use, and monitoring efficiency of operations

Database Designers

Responsible to define the content, the structure, the constraints, functions or transactions against the database, and communicating with end-users and understanding their needs

Catalog

Stores the description of a particular database

Queries

The accessing of different parts of data and formulating the result of a request

Database System

The database and DBMS software together

Meta-Data

The database definition or descriptive information stored by the DBMS in the form of a database catalog or dictionary

Constructing

The process of storing the data on a storage medium that is controlled by the DBMS

Operators and Maintenance Personnel

They manage the actual running and maintenance of the database system hardware and software environment.

Naïve/Parametric End-User

Those who use previously well-defined functions in the form of "canned transactions" against the database

End-Users

Use the data for queries, reports, and updating of database content

Data Abstraction

Used to hide storage details and present the users with a conceptual view of the database