Introduction to Databases and Database Users

This flashcard set covers the fundamental definitions, roles, and characteristics of database systems as presented in Chapter 1 of Fundamentals of Database Systems, 5th Edition.

Database

A collection of related data.

Data

Known facts that can be recorded and have an implicit meaning.

Mini-world

Some part of the real world about which data is stored in a database, such as student grades and transcripts at a university.

Database Management System (DBMS)

A software package or system designed to facilitate the creation and maintenance of a computerized database, including defining, constructing, manipulating, and sharing.

Database System

The combination of the DBMS software together with the data itself, and sometimes including the applications.

Meta-data

The description of a particular database, such as data structures, types, and constraints, which is stored in the DBMS catalog.

Program-data independence

A characteristic of the database approach that allows changing data structures and storage organization without having to change the DBMS access programs.

Data Abstraction

The use of a data model to hide storage details and present users with a conceptual view of the database.

Concurrency Control

A process within the DBMS that guarantees each transaction is correctly executed or aborted when a set of concurrent users retrieve from and update the database.

Recovery Subsystem

A component of the DBMS that ensures each completed transaction has its effect permanently recorded in the database.

OLTP (Online Transaction Processing)

A major part of database applications that allows hundreds of concurrent transactions to execute per second.

Database Administrators (DBA)

Actors on the scene responsible for authorizing access to the database, coordinating and monitoring its use, and acquiring software and hardware resources.

Database Designers

Actors on the scene responsible for defining database content, structure, constraints, and functions, while communicating with end-users to understand their needs.

Naïve (Parametric) End-users

A large section of end-users who use previously well-defined functions in the form of canned transactions against the database, such as bank tellers.

Sophisticated End-users

Users such as business analysts, scientists, and engineers who are thoroughly familiar with system capabilities and use software packages to work with the database.

Stand-alone End-users

Users who maintain personal databases using ready-to-use packaged applications, such as a tax program or an address book.

Traditional Applications

Database applications primarily consisting of numeric and textual databases.

Relational Model

A database model originally introduced in $1970$ that became the basis for DBMS products emerging in the early $1980s$.

OODBMS (Object-Oriented Database Management Systems)

Systems introduced in the late $1980s$ and early $1990s$ to cater to complex data processing in CAD and other applications.

ORDBMS (Object-Relational DBMSs)

Relational DBMSs that have incorporated object database concepts.

XML (eXtended Markup Language)

A standard used for data on the Web and E-commerce applications, evolving from the need for extended database capabilities.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

A recent database application used for managing spatial data.