Databases are useful applications and they help us keep data for longer. They are also more organized than other forms of data storage which is why they are preferred by businesses and organizations around the world. The use of databases has seen increasing adoption by companies and businesses that are turning to the digital front as a means of carrying out their transactions and keeping track of their performances. The modern businesses are also making use of databases to ensure that they can keep their data safely backed up to resources such as the cloud storage servers where it can be retrieved when needed.
It is important to understand the working behind the database applications as this will make you more familiar with database applications. When you know how the database application works, you will have an easier time using these applications as well as getting to recognize where they have been used in real life.
Additionally, knowing how databases work will also ensure that you can create databases that are well structured and better organized. Modern database applications are also being designed to be more versatile in their usage as well as interface with mobile and web applications using simple technologies like JSON.
The Database Structure: Tables
Tables are the basic structure of the database and each table is supposed to hold data about a certain entity. For instance, if the table is supposed to contain information about a team, the database should have all the team members. If the table should have the games that the team has played in a certain season, then the table should be structured to reflect this.
The tables are organized into rows and columns which makes them easy to work with. The columns usually represent the field being represented while the rows represent the individual entries in the database.
Inside the table, each column has a heading which represents the data type that will be presented under it. For instance, you can have a column to hold the first names of the players and a different column for the second names of the players. Another column can hold the ages of the players and another one to represent the number of goals that each player has scored in a certain season.
This means that the information will be properly ordered and it will also be a lot more organized. Tables ensure that your data is well organized while allowing you to store more information into the same data structure.
The table entries should also include unique identifiers that will be used to retrieve the records that are in the table. The main identifier in the table is known as the primary key. The primary key contains the main identifier of the records in the database such as the main ID number. It is a unique record that cannot be shared among two entries in the same table.
The reason primary keys are used in databases is to prevent confusion when accessing and manipulating the records. There could be two players with the same names but the difference in the primary key makes it easier to clear up any kind of confusion that might arise. The use of primary keys also makes it easier to connect tables to other tables in an effort to form relationships.
When the data is sorted in the form of a table, getting to sort through the records and rearrange them can be made much easier. If you need to sort the records by the number of goals that each player has scored, this can be made very easy in the table.
The table ensures that you can easily go through your records and obtain useful insights by simply looking at the arrangement of the records on the table. The entries that are on the table can also be modified in the cell where they are. The cell is the intersection of the row and the column and presents the location of a database entry in a table.
A database can have more than one table. This is usually the case when you are representing a lot of entities in the same database. For instance, if your database holds information about lessons in school, you can separate them into math, science, religion, technology and other categories. Each of these categories can be held in its own table which will make handling your data a lot easier.
The use of many tables in the same database is quite important and it will ensure that you can grow your database as much as you need. If you need to add more entries in the database, you will simply create a new table to hold the new data. The use of database tables is also important in the sense that you can easily update your database, add more records and still get the same benefit of your database being very easy to use.
No matter what kind of information you need to store on the database, the use of tables will prove quite useful for you. Any data that can be tabulated can be stored on your database and you can make references to it very easily. The main benefit or advantage behind the use of tables is the fact that making and reinforcing relationships is made very easy.
The relationships that exist between the tables are usually very simple and you do not have to worry much about getting everything correct. When you need to store books under the same author, all that you will be required to do is place the books into a table and use the author ID as the foreign key for the Books table.
The use of a foreign key ensures that your relationships are easy to track. Additionally, the foreign key that is used in the second table is usually the primary key in the first table. For this reason, you will not be required to replicate any data or resort to redundant means of handling your data. At the same time, your database will be lighter and more useful owing to the power of relationships in forming powerful queries and inferences from your database.
Database tables are the most unique element of any database and can help you represent a lot of information in the same space. Whenever you need to add new records, the use of tables lets you partition the information and sort it much better.
As such, getting to add the new records will be a lot easier and you will not have to worry about data entry. As long as you already have designed the tables and the columns that will represent the data that will be stored on them, the data entry can be made a lot easier.
Typically, data entry into database applications is done manually but it can also be automated. However, this is a little complicated and it is important that you get to study it by itself. The summary is that web applications, mobile applications and even desktop applications can be designed to work with your database and store information with much ease.
These applications can also be wired into your database in order to provide you with a lot of useful insights as well as amazing features such as search and sort. The applications that are designed to work with the database usually hide the complicated details about the database and make the work of interacting with the database and entering new records much easier.
Documents
In other databases, the tables are replaced by documents. Each document presents a unique entry and is mostly used in NoSQL databases. The NoSQL databases are a different caliber of databases and mostly use unstructured data in the form of JSON to store and represent their information. Each document in the database represents a single database entry and makes use of entries that are held in curly braces and separated by commas to represent the information.
The use of documents might seem a bit strange but the modern applications that are designed to work with a massive amount of data are known to make use of the documents. These databases are known to hold a lot of data and they are designed to use JSON as a means of storing and retrieving data. They are also easier to use with modern applications such as mobile and web applications and are loved by developers.
Documents are an alternative to the tables that are mostly used in SQL based databases. They might be a little bit different but the kind of information that each can store still remains the same. It is only the representation of the information that may have changed slightly but beyond that, nothing really changes in the databases.
The documents can also be combined when you are making a query to the database in order to give you more results. The application that you are using to interact with the database will need to format the data for you to make it presentable for you. By default, the document-oriented databases will return a JSON document as a result which can be a little challenging to read through and understand what it contains.
Queries
Retrieval of data from the database takes place through what is known as queries. These are the searches that we perform on the database in order to obtain the items in the database that match our specifications and criteria. The queries are a powerful way of interacting with the database and enables us to discover what is contained in the database.
Knowing how to use queries is a crucial part of getting familiar with databases. It also lets you work better with the database applications as the queries will be useful in filtering the data in the database and narrowing your search to the exact kind of results that you want.
Queries are very important tools in databases and knowing how to use them can be really fun. With the use of queries on the database, you can simplify the use of the database. You can also specify precisely what you want from the database and the query will return the kind of data that you want for your database.
With queries, you can specify the ranges that you want your data to appear in. You can also set minimums, maximums or ask that your results bring back the database items that are below or above a specified figure.
Let us take our players database for instance, if you want the players that are less than 25 years of age, you will specify this parameter in your search query. The search query will then filter through the items that are already existing in the database to give you the players that match this criteria. As you can see, the use of a criteria to filter your searches makes the query the most powerful tool that you can ever have.
When you need to get the players that have been active in more than 4 games in the season, your query can be modified to reflect this fact. The results that you will get back will represent all the players that have played more than 4 games in the season. You can do a lot more with the queries and you are not limited in terms of what kind of restrictions and requirements you can have in your database queries.
The queries are also very powerful when you need to combine the data from several tables. Usually, the queries are not limited to one table in your database and you can expand the query to become a lot more powerful. The power in the database queries lies in their freedom of usage and as a database user, you are free to make as many requirements in your database query.
Whenever you are looking for a database entry, you should be sure to specify what you need. For the data that fall in several tables, you should combine your query to retrieve the data from both tables. This will allow you to get data on the multiple tables at the same time as well as the records that match your criteria in both tables.
This can be very useful in our publisher database where we need to get the books published by a certain author that are less than 3 years in circulation. This kind of query will get us the data that is in two tables of our database. Using special referencing, the query will bring us the results from both tables as well as format them in a manner that clearly shows the author as well as the books that they have published.
This shows the power of queries and how important they are when working with databases. Knowing how to craft up the correct query can be very useful for you. It will also help you to get the data that you need in addition to specifying the kind of criteria that you want your database records to meet.
With the use of queries, your use of the database becomes more versatile and you get to have greater control over your database. You will also be able to do more when you can perform powerful and complex search queries on your database. For instance, you can specify ranges for the results that you want in addition to excluding certain items from your search results.
As such, you will be more in control of the results that you get and you will be a more powerful user of the database in this way. Queries are designed to be powerful tools for use with the database. They play an important role in the use of the database applications and can enable you to do a lot more with your database than you would have imagined.
Modern databases are also presenting the ability to make powerful queries to their users more easily through the user interfaces that are connected to the database. In the interface, the user can make use of a slider to represent the range that they are looking for. They can also use a drop down list to select individual features of their search query such as team names and so on.
With these features presented to the users in a simple manner, getting to make powerful queries will not be restricted to just writing the code. Even the users that do not have programming knowledge can be able to use the query features that are included with database applications.
The use of queries can also be used to check whether certain records exist in our database. In the query, we will set the criteria for the records that we want to have in our search results. Once we have this in place, the results that we will get will indicate whether we have records that match our criteria or not.
For this reason, the use of queries is an important part of using databases as it prevents us from scrolling through thousands of rows of data in order to find the records that we are looking for. With the use of queries, we are also saved from having to manually comb through the thousands of records that are on our database.
In short, the queries make the use of our database a lot easier and we can achieve a lot more when we have queries to use. The database will be more useful in our hands if we know how to make the correct queries. When we do this, we will be able to realize the full potential of our database applications.
Relationships
In one way or another, data is always related. For instance, the doctors in a hospital are related to the wings they work in. The wings represent their areas of specialization as well as there they spend most of their time. The doctors can also be assigned to more than one wing which goes to show how complicated relationships can actually get.
Whenever you use a database, the use of relationships will ensure that you can figure out the patterns that exist in the data that you are working with. When you make proper use of relationships in your database, you will be able to do so much more than simply obtain the records. The relationships ensure that the records that you obtain are intricately linked and related to the other records on your database.
Data in one table of your database can be related to the records that are in another table of the same database. This represents a relationship between the database entries on these tables and the reason your database is usually structured to ensure that you can enforce relationships between the entries. Whenever you need to show that data on one table is related to another table, you will require a unique means of identifying the data.
Mostly, the primary keys on some of the records will be used as a foreign key on the related entries that are on another table. This way, it will be a lot easier to make the reference to the data and work out the relationship that exists between the records that are in your database.
The use of database relationships enables you to work out various features of the database as well as the data that is stored on it. When you are able to work out the relationship between the entries that are in your database, you will also be able to connect the data much more easily.
The use of the relationships can also be used when you need to obtain related data without the primary entries themselves. For instance, when you need to obtain a list of all the patients that are assigned to a certain doctor to create a schedule for them, the relationship that exists between the doctors and patients table will be enough to get you the kind of results that you need.
Relationships are a very important part of databases and enable us to show that two tables can be used with each other. When you have related data residing on different tables of your database, you will easily get to form relationships in addition to creating complex queries that make use of the data on both tables.
The use of the relationships between the tables can also enable us to create a kind of database that merges the data from both tables when giving us the search results. The relationships make our database usable in addition to getting rid of the many complexities that are involved in keeping, running and maintaining a modern database.
Enforcing relationships is something that you should focus on when you are running and maintaining your database. Proper relationships will eliminate so many of the complications that are involved in keeping the database running.
Additionally, the use of relationships will also get rid of the many complications involved in finding related records on the same database. Even when the records on one table have a relationship to more than one table in the same database, our relationships will reflect and represent this fact.
Data Types: Integrity
Enforcing integrity is the main reason we use data types in our databases. Whenever we need to have accurate and correct data in our database tables, we should put checks and measures in place that will prevent the illegal entry of data into our records. For instance, if we require a number for the age of a player, our database should be able to refuse alphanumeric entries.
The ability to prevent errors from being entered into our database is what is known as integrity. The integrity check of the records as they are being fed into the database raises the flags when the incorrect data has been noticed in the records. Additionally, the use of correct data types should be reinforced when we are designing the database.
The use of data validation measures is also important as it will ensure that we do not enter illegal data in our database. When we reject numbers where they are not required in the database, we will be able to ensure that we have accurate records on our database.
Integrity checks can be performed when the data is being entered through the application and when it is being received by the database. However, the database should not accept the data that it is being fed if it does not abide by the rules of the database. If the database only allows data of a certain nature, then the integrity and validity checks should be able to enforce this rule.
The enforcement of such rules will also ensure that your database does not accept everything it is being fed. At the user interface, you can have your application check everything that is being entered by the user before it is submitted. This will ensure that you have enforced strict measures in order to obtain the correct type of data for your database entries.
The records on your database will also need to be of the correct data type and in the correct format in order for your database to be effective. If it is the records for the books, you should specify a format for the ISBN numbers. This will ensure that you get to enter the correct information and descriptions for the books such that you do not have to enter the same records again.
The use of the integrity checks is also meant to keep your data safe and secure from all kinds of tampering. When you run validations on the data that is being fed to your database, you will also have a safer database that can easily keep your data safe as well as ensuring that it is intact and in the correct format at all times.
When you are entering the correct data in your database, you will be able to maintain a clean and properly organized database. All the records will be of the correct format and you will not have any illegal entries in your database. Additionally, the use of data types to enforce the integrity of the data that is being fed into your database will ensure that you have the correct data in your records.
You can also prevent attacks and intrusions from taking place on your database when you have placed restrictions on the types of data that are allowed on your database and those that will be rejected. As such, even the hackers that try to break into your database will not be able to get through. The fact that they cannot enter illegal characters into the database will ensure that their data is rejected and they will not be able to affect your database in any way.
There are different data types that can be used for the entries that we made into our databases. These specify the kind of data that will fit into each column of our tables and determine the kind of interfaces that we will build for the applications that will be interacting with the database. For instance, if we need to enter a date into the database, then the use of a calendar interface will be the best option for us. Not only will it keep us from making mistakes when entering the data, but it will also make our work a lot easier.
The use of different data types in our databases also determines the kind of interfaces that we build for the databases. It is important that we use the correct data type for each of the records that we enter into our database. When we have the accurate data types, we will be able to determine what interfaces to design for the database. Additionally, we will also be able to keep our database running smoothly when we have more control over the kind of data that can be fed into the databases.
Databases: How they work
Once we have designed our database, we will need to specify a schema for each of the tables that we need on our database. The schema should specify the records that will be on each table as well as their data types and whether they are mandatory or optional. If the entries that we are making into our database are mandatory, then we can easily specify this in the database schema. Doing so will not only make it easier for us to enter data into the database, but it is also one of the ways of keeping our work simple and better organized.
The schema will be used to form the tables and will be the same format that we will use whenever we want to enter records into our tables. The database should be designed to follow all the requirements and specifications that have been made about our data such as the length of the entries and what data types should be used for each of the records that will be going into our database. When we have all this information in place, we will be able to make better use of the database as well as get the proper information stored into the database.
Once we have the tables in place, we need to enter the data. The entry can be made through an interface that is provided by the database application or using the applications that have been designed to feed data into the database. For instance, we can have a mobile application or a web application to help us enter our data into the database.
These applications will be responsible for validity checks on the data that is entered to them and will also be interfaced to the database itself. As long as the application is entering the correct data to the database, the database will accept all the data that is fed to it. The entry can also be from other devices such as scanners and we have to configure the applications that are entering the data into our database to accept the data from the scanning devices and feed them to the database in a format that is easy to understand.
This is common at supermarkets when you are checking out. All the items are scanned and the moment they have been scanned, they show up on the display next to the attendant. As such, you are able to see how much you are expected to pay as well as the individual costs for each product that you are purchasing.
The scanning will obtain products and their prices directly from the supermarket database using the code that has been obtained from the bar-code. This is one of the typical uses of the database and whenever you are out shopping, you should keep this in mind.
The attendant will check out the items that you need and when you are getting your receipt, the catalog of the supermarket also changes to reflect the fact that some items have been deducted from their stock. As such, they will be able to replace the items that have been sold as well as ensuring that their supplies are in good numbers.
It is one of the most typical application areas of a modern database and the reason database applications are in such prevalent use in all sectors of our economy. The database will automatically update on its own what deductions have been made as a result of the sale.
There will also be an entry in the sales table that will show the items that have been sold in the recent transaction and how much they cost. This will all be stored in the database but on different tables. However, the use of unique IDs and other crucial identifiers will ensure that as a user of the system, you can easily make references to the data as well as build queries based on the relationship between the entries that are in your database.
Conclusion
Databases are a useful part of our everyday life and most of the daily applications that we encounter make use of a database application in one way or another. When we understand how databases work, then we are no longer strange to the idea that databases can be used to hold as much complex data as we need. The use of tables ensures that we are not limited in terms of the number of records that we can enter in our database.
Additionally, we will also be able to use our databases much better when we understand how to form up the proper query and retrieve records from our database. The use of databases is part of many daily activities. When you understand the inner workings of the databases and how they have been structured, you will be able to do much more with the resources that are available to you.
The use of databases will ensure that you can get a lot more done with the little information that you have. Primary and foreign keys, for instance, ensure that you can form more complicated relationships between records that are in different tables of your database.
They also get rid of the complicated nature of finding results that merge records from many tables on the same database. As a database user, you should have an understanding of the inner workings of the database applications in order to make the most out of the applications.
With the brief introduction that has been provided about database applications and the way in which they work, you will be better placed to use them in your everyday activities. Be it managing your own small inventory of products and items to running an entire warehouse, the use of database applications will be quite useful. The database will ensure that you have the data where you need it to be and have it working for you. You will also be able to stay more organized and productive when you are working with a database.
