Electronic databases are much more flexible and powerful than their paper ancestors. They have made entirely new kinds of data storage and analysis practical. A database is called for whenever you are interested in keeping track of information. Electronic databases are especially helpful when you want to store large amounts of information, information with a lot of complex characteristics, or when you want the capability for complex types of information retrieval.
You will often come across a database program as a user. Many of you encountered such a program when signing up for this class. The scheduling programs of many universities have the entire course schedule and all student schedules stored in a massive system of databases. You may have examined the class schedule by interacting with such a system. In fact, you may have been able to sign up for a class online. When you did so, your personal scheduling information was added to the university database. As a user, you can usually look at a database, and you can sometimes even add to the pool of information it contains.
You might also interact with a database as a developer. In this role, you are not as concerned with the actual information that the database contains as you are with the general structure of that information; how it is organized, how it can be searched, and how the users will see it. Although you will do this less frequently than you might encounter databases as a user, it is a good idea to understand a little bit about database development, because the principles will make you a much stronger user.