Database Systems

Computer Science 311
Spring, 2020

Instructor: John L. Donaldson (john.donaldson@oberlin.edu)
Office: King 231
Office hours: MWF 11 am - noon (or by appointment)
Meeting time: MWF 2:30-3:20, King 243
Prerequisite: CSCI 151 (Data Structures)
Textbook: Garcia-Molina, Ullman, and Widom, Database Systems: The Complete Book, Prentice Hall, second edition, 2009.
References:

Sullivan, NoSQL for Mere Mortals, Addison-Wesley, 2015.
Sciore, Database Design and Implementation, Wiley, 2009.

Course Objectives

To learn basic tools of database design and modeling, with emphasis on the relational model.

To learn database programming using SQL. In addition, students will learn how to interact with a database system using other programming languages such as Java and PHP.

To learn how database management systems are implemented.

Grading Procedures

Your grade will be based on homework, programs, and two exams.

Point breakdown (tentative):
Programs/Homework	200
Midterm Exam (take home, due March 18)	100
Final Exam (take home, due May 16, 10 pm)	150
Total	450

Policies

Assignments in the course will consist of written problem sets and hands-on labs.

Late assignments are strongly discouraged, but will be accepted subject to the following limitations:

Assignments that are submitted one day late will be assessed a 10% penalty.
Assignments that are submitted two or three days late will be assessed a 40% penalty.
Assignments more than three days late will not be accepted.
However, you have 2 Late Lab Exceptions that allow you to hand in an assignment up to 3 days late without penalty. To use such an exception, include a text file in the folder you are handing in, with file name LateLabException.txt. (A late lab exception may not be used to submit an assignment more than 3 days late.) The body of this file should say "This is my 1st (or 2nd) exception." Note that these exceptions cover any reason for being late with your work, such as "I was sick over the weekend", "I needed to travel to a job interview", or "My dog ate my laptop."

You are strongly encouraged to turn in all of your assignments on time. Be sure to get started early!

Regular class attendance and participation is expected. Excessive absence may result in a lower final grade.

Student Disabilities

If you have a disability that might impact your performance in this course, or requires special accommodation, please contact me as soon as possible so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Support is available through Student Academic Services. You will need to contact them to get your disability documented before accommodations can be made.

Academic integrity

All work in this course is to be performed in accordance with the college's Oberlin Honor Code. You must write the Honor Pledge and sign it at the end of every submission. Electronic submissions must include the honor pledge in the comments and your name. The pledge is "I have adhered to the Honor Code in this assignment."

In particular, on all of the exams you are responsible for your own work; you may neither give nor receive aid during the course of the exam. No electronic devices are permitted in exams.

That being said, in a hands-on course such as this one, some discussion of lab assignments is expected and encouraged. A few specific do's and don't's:

Do:

ask questions about the requirements of an assignment
discuss with your classmates general approaches to solving a problem prior to starting your own design and coding
get/give help from/to another student in solving a particularly tough debugging problem

Don't:

obtain a copy of another student's code or homework answers (including a student who has taken the course before)
give a copy of your code or homework answers to another student (including a student taking the course in the future)
collaborate with a partner or group to work on an assignment together
discuss an exam in any way with another student who may be taking the exam at another time

In the end, the work you submit must be your own. If you're not sure what is acceptable in a given situation, please ask me about it.

Course outline

Basic concepts. Data models. Historical background. DBMS architecture. (chapter 1)
The relational model. Relational algebra. (chapter 2)
Relational database design. Functional dependencies and normal forms. (chapter 3)
High-level database design. The Entity-Relationship model. (chapter 4)
Database programming. Extended relational algebra. SQL. (chapters 5-6)
SQL data definition. Keys. Constraints and triggers. Views and indexes. (chapters 7-8)
Connecting to an SQL database with other programming languages. SQL/PSM. JDBC. (chapter 9)
Object-oriented database design and programming. (chapter 10)
XML as a database language. (chapters 11-12)
NoSQL databases. Redis. JSON. MongoDB.
Web access and PHP.
Database implementation: storage structures. (chapters 13-14)
Database implementation: query processing. (chapters 15-16)