Databases

The course covers all the classical topics related to databases and database management systems (DBMS), starting from the general concepts of information and data, the conceptual and logical design of a database, to the specifics of the use of a relational database management system (MySQL), including issues of normalisation and the use of Relational Algebra. The course takes also a practical perspectives, guiding the students through the design and implementation of a database as indicated in an individual case study.

The course teaches the basis of the design and management of the structured information contained in databases.

In presence

The course is divided in two parts running in parallel. A theoretical part that presents the fundamentals of database design, the entity-relation model, the relational model and the relational algebra and a practical part that consolidates the theoretical teachings using a large set of examples and applications. As part of the practical part, an individual database design project based on MySQL is assigned to each student in order to expose the student to realistic database applications.

Students knowledge will be tested using 3 theoretical and 1 practical tests during the semester (no final exam). The final mark will be the average mark of these tests.