Course Expectations and Tentative Syllabus

 

CSC:264      Database Management Systems                                                Fall 2002

                      Room M – Olney 201                                                                     MWF  10-10:50am

                                  WF  Olney 215,

 

Professor:   Dr. Michael Redmond    

                      330 Olney Hall  (215) 951-1096

                      redmond@lasalle.edu

                      http://www.lasalle.edu/~redmond/teach/264

 

Office Hours: MWF 11-11:50am, MW 12-12:50pm

                          And at other times by appointment.

 

Text:

Database Systems Design, Implementation, & Management by Peter Rob and Carlos Coronel. Fifth Edition. Publisher: Course Technology Year: 2002  ISBN 0-619-06269-X

 

Recommended:

A comprehensive book on Microsoft Access, such as

Microsoft Access 2000 Bible by Cary N. Prague, Michael R. Irwin,  John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0764532863; 1st edition (April 1999), Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  

(you will want to make sure that the book you choose is for developers, not users, and has intermediate material as well as beginner material (e.g. NOT something like a Learn Access in 24 Hours book). Sure books are expensive, all the more reason that you will want a comprehensive book  --- that will be useful beyond this semester)

 

Course Description:

                Databases are everywhere. Data is a crucial resource for most organizations, so effective storage and access of that data is an important concern.

This course is intended to introduce the student to the important principles of database management systems and the design of databases. In addition, the student will gain experience working with practical database management packages: Oracle and Microsoft Access. Most of the course lectures will focus on the theory; some lab time for learning the packages is planned.  The student will develop a database application using Access; it is expected that the student can learn some of the details about Access on their own.  Oracle is a large professional package, with many features including design and development tools; our work with Oracle will focus on SQL.

This course focuses on Relational Database theory - which is the current technology. The text reflects that emphasis. There may be some discussion of previous database organizations that are still found in industry (hierarchical and network). We may also discuss new technology (object-based databases).

The course is intended for students in both computer science and information technology, as well as other students who have an interest in developing databases.

 

Project:

You will develop an application working in a group of 3 people. You will be assigned to groups. The most efficient approach is to use meetings to divide up work, monitor progress, ensure consistency, etc, with the brunt of the work done outside meetings.  Note also that, to discourage slackers, 1) included in the project hand-in, you will specify which parts of the project each person was responsible for, and 2) you may be asked to rate the level of effort of group members at the end of the semester. In most cases, the effort should be equal, especially since all students know ahead of time that they must pull their weight. Or 3) I may interview people about aspects of the design / development. Note that if you do not do your share of the project you can get a lower grade than the group grade. If there appears to be a problem in a group, first try to solve it internally. If that doesn't solve the problem, as a last resort (but before the end of the term), I may have to mediate.

The project will be a prototype, it will not be a complete bullet-proof application. Information about the application will be distributed shortly. However, you will not be able to make much progress on the project until after you thoroughly understand database design (covered in early part of course). The database design for your project is due Oct 18; a first installment of the project will be due Nov 11,  the whole application is due Dec 7 (the last day of class). Projects will be demoed in class during the week of Dec 6. Groups will present their database design and their prototype.  All students are expected to be present and to participate equally in the group presentation. Work done in Access before your database design is correct may require substantial re-work (i.e. the first priority is to get the database design right). Thus, you may find it useful to turn in your design early.


Grading:

                Midterm #1                                            15%

                Midterm #2                                            15%

                Final Exam                             15%

                Class Participation                                 5%

                Individual Assignments                     10% (5% for SQL assignment, 5% for all others combined)

                Group Application                               40% (5% DB design; 10% first installment; 20% final product; 5% presentation)

 

                Final Grades:

A             92-100                     A-           90-91

B+           88-89                       B             82-87                       B-            80-81

C+           78-79                       C             72-77                       C-            70-71

D+           68-69                       D             60-67                       F              < 60

 

·         There will be several, varied (mostly short) assignments over the course of the semester. The largest will involve using SQL in Oracle. The second largest will probably be E/R diagrams using Visio.

·         Do your own assignments !!!!  Work that is copied or done with somebody (when not assigned to a group) will be punished. If in a group/pair, your group must do its own work.

·         Late Assignments  -20% per weekday (NOTE - NOT per CLASS)

                                UNLESS SPECIFIED OTHERWISE ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS

                                 -10% if handed in after start of class and before I leave for the day.

·         Class participation grades will be assigned systematically using attendance, plus participation including questions, comments, and responding to instructor’s questions in class. Deductions could be made for insufficient participation in team work (in addition to any deductions on project grade).

·         Makeup exams only by advance arrangements or for documented real emergencies, such as medical problems. Makeup may involve double-counting your final exam.

·         The Final Exam is cumulative, though it will focus more on the (previously untested) final section of the course.

 

Students generally do better in courses if they read the section of the textbook BEFORE it is presented in class, since they are prepared to ask questions. Working end-of-chapter exercises is a good test of your understanding.

 

 

                Course Objectives

 

Concepts:

1. The student should understand the benefits of database management systems.

 

2. The student should understand the process of semantic data modeling including the entity-relationship approach.

 

3. The student should understand the principles that should be used in designing a relational database, including normalization techniques.

 

4. The student should understand the issues and possible ways of handling relational data integrity constraints.

 

5. The student should understand the relational algebra.

 

6. The student should understand the importance of views, to provide logical data independence and some degree of privacy.

 

7. The student should understand the issues involved in transaction processing.

 

Applications:

1. The student should gain some exposure and experience with a commercial relational database management system (RDBMS). The student should be able to define and set up a relational database using the RDBMS.

 

2.        The student should gain experience working on a group database application development project.

 

3. The student should understand how to define database structures and how to specify database queries using SQL, and gain experience writing SQL queries on a practical system.


Tentative Course Plan:

Date                Material                                              Reading

Aug 26                   Intro to Databases, Access

Aug 28                   Intro to Class                                                        Chapt 1

Aug 30                   Files vs Databases                                               Sections 1.2, 1.3

 

Sept 2                     LABOR DAY – NO CLASS

Sept 4                     Database Models                                                 Sections 1.5,1.6

Sept 6                     Relational Databases                                           Chapt 2, Sections 2.1-2.3

 

Sept 9                     Intro to Microsoft Access – Tables

Sept 11                   Relationships and Redundancy                        Sections 2.6,2.7

Sept 13                   Entity Relationship Modeling                            Section 3.3

 

Sept 16                   Microsoft Access – Relationships

Sept 18                   Data Abstraction                                                 Chapter 3, Sections 3.1,3.2

Sept 20                   Entity Relationship Modeling                            Section 3.3

 

Sept 23                   E/R Modeling using Visio

Sept 25                   Entity Relationship Modeling                            Section 3.3

Sept 27                   MIDTERM  #1

 

Sept 30                   Microsoft Access – Forms                                

Oct 2                       The Need for Normalization                               Section 4.1.1

Oct 4                       First Normal Form, Functional Dependencies Sections 4.1.2, 2.2

 

Oct 7                       Microsoft Access - Queries

Oct 9                       Second Normal Form                                           Section 4.1.3

Oct 11                     Third Normal Form                                               Section 4.1.4.

 

Oct 14                     Microsoft Access – Reports and Macros

Oct 16                     Normalization and DB Design, Normalization Tradeoffs                               Sections 4.2, 4.4  

Oct 18                     Relational Algebra                                               Section 2.4 Project DB Design Due

 

Oct 21                     FALL BREAK – NO CLASS

Oct 23                     Relational Algebra

Oct 25                     SQL Data Definition                                            Sections 5.1, 5.2

                                                                                                               

Oct 28                     SQL Using Oracle

Oct 30                     SQL Queries                                                          Sections 5.3.3., 5.4, 5.6.1

Nov 1                     SQL Queries

 

Nov 4                     SQL Using Oracle

Nov 6                     SQL Queries

Nov 8                     SQL Queries – Aggregation                               Sections 5.6.3, 5.6.4   Project First Installment Due

 

Nov 11                   SQL using Oracle

Nov 13                   SQL Updates                                                        Sections 5.3.1, 5.5.6, 5.3.4, 5.3.6

Nov 15                   MIDTERM #2

 

Nov 18                   SQL triggers, Stored Procedures                       Section 5.8

Nov 20                   Transactions                                                         Section 9.1

Nov 22                   Concurrency Control                                           Section 9.2

 

Nov 25                   Locking                                                                  Section 9.3

Nov 27 & 29          THANKSGIVING BREAK – NO CLASS

 

Dec 2-4                   Group Presentations

Dec 4-6                   Recovery                                                               Section 9.6

Final Exam: TBD (Dec 9-13)