Republic of the Philippines

PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

Piccio Garden, Villamor, Pasay City, Philippines

Name: Catalan, Gabriele Angela L. SECTION: BSAIT 3-1

MODULE 7 SELF-CHECK
1. Explain the distinctions among the terms primary key, candidate key, and super key. GIVE
EXAMPLES

Primary Key: is the columns you choose to maintain uniqueness in a table. Here in
Employee table, you can choose either EmployeeID or SSN columns, EmployeeID is
preferable choice, as SSN is a secure value.

Candidate Key: are individual columns in a table that qualifies for uniqueness of all the
rows. Here in Employee table EmployeeID & SSN are Candidate keys.

Super Key: If you add any other column/attribute to a Primary Key then it became a super
key, like EmployeeID + FullName is a Super Key.

2. Explain the difference between a weak and a strong entity set.

Strong Entity Weak Entity

Strong entity always has a primary key.
Strong entity is not dependent on any
other entity.
Strong entity is represented by a single
rectangle.
Two strong entity’s relationship is
represented by a single diamond.
Strong entities have either total
participation or not.
While a weak entity has a partial
discriminator key.
Weak entity depends on strong entity.
Weak entity is represented by a double
rectangle.
While the relation between one strong and
one weak entity is represented by a double
diamond.
While weak entity always has total
participation.

3. Why Database Designing is important before doing it into an application system as a back-
end?

You must create a database that only maintains information that is useful and important to
assure data accuracy. To ensure data consistency, minimize redundant data, efficiently
execute queries, and improve database speed, a well-designed database is required.