Friday, September 12, 2008

Assigned Reading Database

Database management system (DBMS)--a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system.  The most common one today is the relational model.
Software  is used to organize the storage of data.  Otherwise knows as DMBS.--the systems are categorized according to the model they support and the query languages that are available to them.
Hierarchical Model
  • data organized into an inverted tree-like structure--this establishes logical relationships among the data of multiples files.
  • each record on one level can be related to multiple records on the next lower level
Network Model
  • records participate in any number of named relationships
  • relationship associates a record of one type with multiple records of another type--these relationships are called sets
  • traditionally implemented by chains of pointers between related records
  • tend to store records with links to other records
  • promotes greater flexibility and data accessibility 
  • complex to design and develop a network database

Relational Model
  • uses a table where information about an entity is represented with columns and rows
  • columns enumerate the attributes of an entity
  • rows (records) represent instances of an entity
  • queries is how users request data--database returns a result set--a list of rows that constitute the answer
To be honest, as i continued to read the rest of the article, I was confused.  I clicked on hyperlink after hyperlink to get a better understanding of what was being stated--just added to my confusion.  Parts of the article were understandable (security) but a lot more of it just added to my confusion.

1 comment:

raygunrobot said...

I had a lot of trouble with all the jargon, too. Even going to the links just made my head hurt. I reread it the next day (yesterday), though, and it helped. I mean, databses aren't that hard to understand, but when there's a ton stuff being thrown at you for the first time, it's difficult to get your head around it all. And the article did explain a few terms that I'd heard often ,and never really thought about, so if you can go back and try again, I think you'll find it pretty helpful.