Study Guide

Learning outcomes

Student is able to
- understand the basic principles of relational database design
- use database transactions in an application
- explain the uses of alternative database systems

Implementation and methods of teaching

System setup exercise, SQL-exercises, database design exercises. This is a thoroughly technical course. The course utilizes some coursebooks which are available in digital form from the LAB library. Work is done individually.

Timing and attendance

Assignments are mainly given out weekly. Lectures are often provided as videos. Typically the completion time for an assignment is a week, sometimes a larger assignment is assigned for two weeks. Material provided is targeted at the LAB lab machines (Windows), but all major three platforms, Windows, MacOS and Linux, are supported. Previous technical experience on systems and programming will affect how much time this course will take very heavily.

Learning material and recommended literature

Links to materials (books) and lecture material will be provided in Moodle.

Alternative completion methods

Contact the teacher for information if you have extensive SQL knowledge in advance.

Exam retakes

No exams.

Learning environment

The SQL platforms needed to complete the assignments can be seen as environments the students study in. The building of these platforms is done by the students themselves, they are not provided as ready made installations, but the first few exercises will help in setting them up in a student machine. This course requires access to a (BIT) student machine which fulfills the requirements for the software used. Alternatively students can visit the LAB campus and work with the workstations there.

Student time use and work load

The workload heavily depends on the experience level of the student. Simultaneous studies in programming languages other than SQL can also be beneficial from time usage perspective. This course is related to the "Applications Project" course in which the student should design and implement a database. This sets the pace for the first few weeks of the course.

Contents

Student is able to
- understand the basic principles of relational database design
- use database transactions in an application
- explain the uses of alternative database systems

Additional information for students: previous knowledge etc.

Basic understanding of programming. Command line interface experience will be a major benefit.

Assessment criteria

Artifacts produced will be evaluated by the teacher.

Assessment scale

1-5

Failed (0)

The student is unable to design a relation database and cannot understand the concept of relations. The student does not understand the technical differences between a relation database, a simple table and a key-value store.

Assessment criteria: level 1 (assessment scale 1–5)

The student understands the advantages of a relation database and key-value stores. The student also understands their technical differences but cannot properly design and implement such systems. The student understands how and why databases are constructed.

Assessment criteria: level 3 (assessment scale 1–5)

The student can design and implement relation databases at an adequate level. The student is also able to create functional key-value stores which only have a few omissions or issues.

Assessment criteria: level 5 (assessment scale 1–5)

The student masters database design and implementation (whether using relational databases or key-value stores) completely.