Lesson 01

Introduction to Databases
1.1. Aim
To understand the concept of ‘Database’, its limitations and why database design is so
important.

1.2. Objectives
Having read this lesson you will be able to understand;

 The differences between Data and Information

 What is a database

1.3. Introducing the Database

To understand the need for the design of databases, we must first understand the difference
between data and information. Data are raw facts. The word raw is used to indicate that the
facts have not yet been processed to reveal their meaning. For example, suppose that ABC
Company tracks all sales of the company through invoices. Each invoice contains raw facts
such as;

Invoice number = 200428

Invoice date = 04_Apr_2013
Sales amount = Rs.1263.50

Further, suppose that ABC Company has generated 58,286 invoices within the year 2013.
Therefore, ABC Company’s raw data include 58,286 invoice numbers, 58,286 invoice dates
and 58,286 sales amounts. With such a huge data environment, together with employee data
of the company, the ABC Company’s managers would find it very difficult to make useful
conclusions on sales productivity per employee, etc. Examining these 58,286 invoices would
be a tedious task for the managers of the company.

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 Figure 1.1: Total Invoices of ABC Company for the Year 2013

On the other hand, if we process these facts to obtain total sales for each month of the year
2013, then we can produce some useful results as shown in Figure 1.2.
These results easily show that the sale has gone down in the month of February and has
increased in the month of April. In short, ABC Company’s managers now have, processed
data, so that they can make decisions based on that.

Figure 1.2: Total Sales of ABC Company for the Year 2013

The production of good, relevant and timely information is the key to good decision making.
In turn, good decision-making is the key to have profitable business in the market.
Let’s summarize some key points:
 Data constitute the building blocks of information
 Information is produced by processing data
 Information is used to reveal the meaning of data
 Good, relevant and timely information is the key to good decision making
 Good decision making is the key to organizational survival

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In addition, it is clear that timely and useful information requires good data. Such data must
be:
 Generated properly
 Stored properly
 Easy to access / retrieve
 Easy to process
Thus, we can see that the data environment must be managed carefully. Data management is
the discipline that focuses on the proper generation, storage and retrieval of data.
A database is a collection of related data. For example, consider the names, telephone
numbers and addresses of the people you know. You may have recorded this data in an
indexed address book. This is a collection of related data with an implicit meaning and hence
is a database. A database has the following implicit properties:

 Represents some aspect of the real world. Changes to this real world environment are
reflected in the database.
 A logically coherent collection of data with some in inherent meaning. A random
collection of data cannot be considered as a database.
 Designed, built and populated with data for a specific purpose. It has an intended
group of users and some preconceived applications in which these uses are interested.

A database can be of any size and of varying complexity. For example, the list of names and
addresses referred to earlier, may consist of only a few hundred records, each with a simple
structure. On the other hand, the card catalogue of a large library may contain thousands of
cards stored under different categories. - Primary author last name, subject, title- with each
category organized in aliphatic order. This huge amount of information must be organized
and managed, so that the users can search for, retrieve and update the data as needed.
A database may be generated and maintained manually or it may be computerized. The above
two are examples of databases that may be created and maintained manually.
For efficient data management, we need the use of a computer database, which is a shared,
integrated computer structure that keeps a collection of:

 Data (raw facts of interest to the end user)

 Metadata (data about data - stored database definitions)

The Metadata provide a description of the data characteristics and the set of relationships that
link the data found within the database.
A computerized database may be created and maintained by a group of application programs
written specifically for that task.
Thus, a Database Management System (DBMS) is a collection of programs (Software
Application) that enables users to create and maintain a database. In other words, it is a
collection of programs that manages the data structures and controls the access to the data
stored in the database.

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The DBMS is hence a general-purpose software system that facilitates the processes of defining,
constructing and manipulating databases for various applications. Defining a database involves
specifying the data types, structures and constraints for the data to be stored in the database.
Constructing the database is the process of storing the data on some storage medium that is
controlled by the DBMS. Manipulating a database includes functions such as querying the database
to retrieve specific data, updating the database to reflect changes in the real world and generating
reports from the data. In addition to the above, a DBMS also makes it possible to share data in the
database among multiple applications or users. We will call the database and the DBMS software
together as a database system.

The DBMS is the database software you buy commercially and you do not have the option of
making design changes to it. Therefore, when we speak of database design, we mean the
design of the database structure that will be used to store and manage data, rather than the
design of the DBMS software. Once the database design is completed, the DBMS handles all
the complicated activities required to translate the designer’s view of the structures (user
defined database structures) in to structures that are usable to the computer.
Figure 1.3 illustrates that the DBMS stands between the database and the user(s). It is like an
agent who helps users to deal with databases. In effect, the DBMS serves as the intermediary
between the user and the database by translating user requests into the complex code required
to fulfil those requests. The DBMS hides much of the database’s internal complexity from the
application programs that use the database. A programmer using a programming language
might write the application program or it might be created through a DBMS utility program.

Figure 1.3: The DBMS Manages the Interaction between the End User and the Database

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1.3.1. Why Database Design is Important?
A good database does not just happen. The structure of its contents must be designed
carefully. In fact, most of this book is dedicated to the development of good database designs.
Even a good DBMS will perform poorly with a badly designed database.

A well-designed database facilitates proper data management and becomes a valuable

information generator. A poorly designed database is likely to become a breeding ground for
redundant data. That is unnecessarily duplicated data. Redundant data are often the source
of difficult to trace information errors.

A database contains redundant data, when the same data about the same entity is kept in
different locations. (An entity is a person, place or thing about which data are to be collected
and stored). For example, data redundancy exists when a customer’s telephone number is
stored in a customer file, a sales agent file and an invoice file. If the customer’s telephone
number changes the correction might not be made in all the locations where it occurs.
Therefore, the existence of redundant data can produce incorrect data entries and you
probably will not know which value is the correct one. Reports might yield different results,
depending on which versions of the data were used. In short, uncontrolled data redundancies
are typical of a poorly designed database.

Note:

Database Design is the database structure that will be used as the plan to store and manage
data.
The database management system (DBMS) is the software used to implement the database
design and manipulate the database.
Modern database and application development software are easy to use that people can
quickly learn how to implement a simple database and develop simple applications within a
week or so, without giving design much thought.
As data and reporting requirements become more complex, those same people will simply
(and quickly!) produce the required data by incorrectly adding more columns of tables to the
database. That's how data redundancies and all their attendant anomalies develop, thus
reducing the "database" and its applications to a status worse than useless.

The following are basically the reasons for doing database design:

 Good application programs can't overcome bad database designs.

 The existence of a DBMS neither guarantees good data management, nor ensures that
the database will be able to generate correct and timely information.
 Ultimately, the end user and the designer decide what data will be stored in the
database in what manner.
A database created without the benefit of a detailed blueprint (design) is unlikely to be
satisfactory.
Do you think it smarter to build a house without the help of a blueprint (house plan)?
Definitely No, so why would you want to create a database without a blueprint? (Perhaps it

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would be OK to build a chicken coop without a blueprint, but would you want your house to
be built the same way?

Summary
Good database design avoids redundant data (unnecessarily duplicated data) and a poorly
designed database generates inconsistent data (inaccurate data) which leads to bad decision
making that can further lead to failure of organization.

Self- Assessment Questions

(01) What do you understand by the terms Data and Information? Describe.

(02) “Data Redundancy must be controlled” Explain.