DS806: Database Systems

The course cannot be taken by students enrolled in the master programme in Computer Science
The course cannot be followed if the student has passed DM505, DM564, DSK806 or DM576, or if the student has DM505, DM564, DSK806 or DM576 mandatory in their curriculum.

Students taking the course are expected to:

• Have basic proficiency in programming.

• giving the competence to plan and design a relational database
• knowledge of structured querying and manipulating relational databases
• application of a relational database system to model real world data
• developing skills in the programming of database applications
• skills to identify own learning needs and to structure own learning in different learning environments

The learning objectives of the course is that the student demonstrates the ability to:

• design a suitable conceptual model for a database, on the basis of a problem description
• transform a conceptual model for a database into a suitable relational model
• write SQL queries for a relational database
• optimize
  a relational database through choice of indexes, use of equivalent
  SQL-expressions, and use of the theory of normal forms
• access a  database from an application program.
• describe work done on the above subjects in clear and precise language, and in a structured fashion
• justify design conditions
• describe, formulate and communicate issues and results to specialists and non-specialists, or project partners and end users

The following main topics are contained in the course:

• Relational databases
• database design (conceptual data modelling, normal forms)
• relational algebra
• SQL
• database access from application programs
• database systems
  

The course consists of partially interactive lectures (22 hours), exercise sessions (20 hours), and reading and study activities at home or in study groups.