Lecture 1:

Introduction

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SEMESTER: May-Aug 2020
LECTURER : Michael Mutisya
CLASS DAYS/TIME: Monday: 2:00pm – 5:00pm
CREDIT UNIT: 3 hrs
CONTACTS: mmutisya@riarauniversity.ac.ke,
Tel: 0720752707

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 Reference texts
 Raghu Ramakrishnan and Johannes Gerhrke.
2003. Database Management Systems, 3rd edition,
McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 978-0-07-246563-1.
 Hector Garcia-Molina, Jeffrey D. Ullman, and Jennifer
Widom. 2009. Database Systems: The Complete
Book. Prentice Hall, 2nd edition. ISBN: 978-0-13-
187325-4
 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkrant Navathe. 2010.
Fundamentals of Database Systems, 6th edition,
Addison Wesley. ISBN-13: 978-0136086208
 Definition of terms

• Database- collection of information that is

organized so that it can be accessed, managed
and updated effectively to provides efficient
retrieval
• Data- Known facts that could be recorded and
stored in a computer.
• Information- Processed data that could be used to
increase knowledge of the user
• Data management- focuses on data collection,
storage and retrieval, constitutes a core
activity for any organization.
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 Definition of terms

 End -user data: raw facts of interest to the user.

 Meta data: The Meta data provides a description

of the data characteristics and the set of
relationships that link the data found within the
database.

 DBMS: Software that enables the creation of and

management of the database

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 Database vs. file based system

File based system

 Collection of application programs that

performs services for the user wishing to

access information.
 Each program within a file based system

defines and manages its own data.

 Alternative to paper based files system

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 Disadvantages of file based system

1. Data Redundancy and inconsistency

– Files and application programs are created by different
programmers over a long period of time- the files are
likely to have different formats and the programs may
be written in several programming languages.
– Different and conflicting versions of same data
– same piece of information may be duplicated in
several files.
– This redundancy leads to higher storage and
access costs.
– It may also lead to inconsistency i.e. the various
copies of the same data may . no longer agree.
 Disadvantages (Con't)
2. Difficulty in accessing - Suppose that one of the
bank officers needs to find out the names of all
customers who live within a certain city's phone
code.
The officer would ask the data processing
department to generate such a list.
Such a request may not have been anticipated while
designing the system originally and the only options
available are:-
i) Extract the data manually
ii) Write the necessary application, therefore do not
allow the data to be accessed conveniently and
efficiently
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 Disadvantages (Con't)

3. Integrity - The data value stored in the database

must satisfy certain types of consistency constraints
e.g. a balance of a bank account may never fall below
a prescribed value e.g. 5,000/=.
• These constraints are enforced in a system by
adding appropriate code in the various application
programs.
• However, new constraints calls for change on the
other programs to be enforced.

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 Disadvantages (Con't)

4. Concurrent access anomalies - Interaction of

concurrent updates may result in inconsistent data
e.g. if 2 customers withdraw funds say 50/= and 100/=
from an account at about the same time the result of
the concurrent execution may leave the account in
an incorrect state.
5. Security problems - Since application programs
are added to the system in an ad-hoc manner, it is
difficult to enforce security constraints.

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 Disadvantages (con’t.)

6. Data isolation
- Since data is scattered in various files and files may be
in different formats, it may be difficult to write new
applications programs to retrieve the appropriate
data.

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 Database Approach

• Database consists of logically related data stored

in a single repository

Advantages of the Database Systems over file system

management approach

1. Centralized Control - Via the DBA it is possible to

enforce centralized management and control of data.
2. Reduction of redundancies - Unnecessary duplication
of data is avoided effectively reducing total amount of
data required, consequently the reduction of storage
space. .
Advantages of the Database Systems(con't)

3. Shared data - In a DBMS, sharing of data under its

control by a number of application programs and user is
possible e.g. backups.

4. Integrity - Centralized control can also ensure that

adequate checks are incorporated to the DBMS provide
data integrity. Data integrity means that the data
contained in the database is both accurate and
consistent e.g. employee age must be between 28-25
years.

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Advantages of the Database Systems(con't)
5. Security - Only authorized people must access
confidential data. The DBA ensures that proper access
procedures are followed including proper authentication
schemes before permitting access to sensitive
data.
6. Conflict Resolution - The DBA is in a position to
resolve conflicting resolve conflicting requirements of
various users and applications.
7. Data Independence - It involves both logical and
physical independence. logical data independence
indicates that the conceptual schemes can be changed
without affecting the existing external schemes

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Disadvantages of Database Systems
1. Cost - in terms of:
The DBMS – software
Purchasing or developing S/W,
H/W
Workspace (disks for storage)
Migration (movement from tradition separate systems to an
integrated one)
2. Centralization Problems
- You would require adequate backup incase of failure
-You would require decreased severity of security breaches
and disruption of operation of the organization because of
downtimes and failures.
3. Complexity of Backup and recovery
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Database vs. File Systems

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 DBMS
•A software system that enables users to define, create, maintain, and
control access to the database.
• It allows users to define the database, usually through a Data
Definition Language (DDL).
•DDL allows users to specify the data types and structures and the
constraints on the data to be stored in the database.
•Data Manipulation Language (DML). Having a central repository
for all data and data descriptions allows the DML to provide a
general inquiry facility to this data, called a query language

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 DBMS cont’d
• It provides controlled access to the database. For example, it may
provide:
-A security system, which prevents unauthorized users accessing the
database;
-an integrity system, which maintains the consistency of stored data;
-A concurrency control system, which allows shared access of the
database;
-A recovery control system, which restores the database to a
previous consistent state following a hardware or software failure;
-A user-accessible catalog, which contains descriptions of the data in
the database.

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 Components of DBMS Environment
The database system is composed of 5 major parts i.e.
a. Hardware-All the systems physical devices e.g peripherals,
storage devices etc.
- The DBMS and the applications require hardware to run.
- The hardware can range from a single personal computer to a
single mainframe or a network of computers.
- The particular hardware depends on the organization’s
requirements and the DBMS used.
b. Software- comprises the DBMS software itself and the application
programs, together with the operating system, including network
software if the DBMS is being used over a network e.g
DBMS(oracle,DB2,Ms Access), App programs and utilities
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 Components of DBMS Environment cont’d

c. Data- Collection for facts stored in the database

- Perhaps the most important component of the DBMS
environment
- Database contains both the operational data and the metadata,
the “data about data.
- The structure of the database is called the schema
d. Procedures- Instructions and rules that govern the design and use
of the database system.
e. People- database systems users. eg. Sys Admin, DBAs, Sys analysts
and designers, Database Designers

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 Components of DBMS Environment cont’d
Data Administrator (DA)
- Is responsible for the management of the data resource, including
database planning; development and maintenance of standards,
policies and procedures; and conceptual/logical database design
Database Administrator (DBA)
- Is responsible for the physical realization of the database, including
physical database design and implementation, security and
integrity control, maintenance of the operational system, and
ensuring satisfactory performance of the applications for users.
- The role of the DBA is more technically oriented than the role of
the DA, requiring detailed knowledge of the target DBMS and the
system environment.
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 Components of DBMS Environment cont’d
Database Designers
- Two types of designer: logical database designers and physical
database designers.
- The logical database designer is concerned with identifying the
data (that is, the entities and attributes), the relationships
between the data, and the constraints on the data that is to be
stored in the database.
- physical database designer decides how the logical database
design is to be physically realized

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 Components of DBMS Environment cont’d
Application Developers
• Once the database has been implemented, the application
programs that provide the required functionality for the end-
users must be implemented.
• This is the responsibility of the application developers

End-Users
• The end-users are the “clients” of the database, which has been
designed and implemented and is being maintained to serve their
information needs.