Database Concepts for Beginners

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If you are a Web Developer, Desktop Application Developer, or Mobile Application Developer then you have heard or dealt with word data and databases in your career journey. In this article, I am going to explain the below topics which are related to database.

• What is Database
• What is DBMS
• What is RDBMS
• Difference between DBMS and RDBMS
• What is Normalization 

Let’s dig more into the above topics one by one.

What is Database?

A database is an organized collection of congruent and meaningful data. Data is a collection of a small unit of information that can be in any format like text, words, numbers, observations, etc.

A database could be as simple as the arrangement of names and numbers in a phone book or in the address book or complex as a database in a bank.

What is Database Management Systems (DBMS)?

A database management system (DBMS) is essentially nothing but a software system or tools to store, retrieve, manage, and execute queries data in a database. It allows users to access and interact with the data stored in the database.

DBMS makes it possible for end-users to insert, update, delete and read data in the database and it essentially provides an interface between users or software applications and databases. Some of the DBMS examples are Sybase, Dbase, FoxPro, MS-Access, etc.

DBMS optimizes the data by following a database design technique known as normalization, which splits large and redundant data into different tables. DBMS has many benefits over traditional file systems, including flexibility and a more complex backup system.

Benefits of DBMS

• Better data sharing
• Reducing Data Redundancy
• Improved data security
• Better data integration
• Minimized data inconsistency
• Improved data access
• Improved decision making
• Increased end-user productivity
• Faster data Access

What is Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)?

A relational database is a type of database that stores and provides access to data that are related to each other. Relational databases are based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A relational database is a database system that stores and retrieves data in a tabular format organized in the form of rows and columns and each row in the table have a unique ID called the key. This unique ID is used for setting up the relationships between data stored in different tables.

We can say Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is an advanced version of a DBMS. All modern database management systems like SQL, MS SQL Server, IBM DB2, ORACLE, MySQL, and Microsoft Access are based on RDBMS.

Difference between DBMS and RDBMS?

Although DBMS and RDBMS both are used to store information in a physical database but there are some considerable differences between them.

The main differences between DBMS and RDBMS are given below:

After observing the differences between DBMS and RDBMS, you can say that RDBMS is an extension of DBMS.

What is Normalization?

• Database Normalization is the process of organizing or structuring data in a relational database.
• Normalization is a database design technique that reduces data redundancy and eliminates undesirable characteristics like Insertion, Update, and Deletion Anomalies.
• Normalization rules divide larger tables into smaller tables and link them using relationships.
• Normalization is important for many reasons, but chiefly because it allows databases to take up as little disk space as possible, resulting in increased performance.
• The main purpose of the Normalization process is to achieve the below goals:
• There is no redundancy of data, all data is stored in only one place.
• Data dependencies are logical, all related data items are stored together. 
• In 1970 the First Normal Form was defined by Edgar F Codd and eventually, other Normal Forms were defined.

Below is the list of Normal forms in SQL:

• 1NF (First Normal Form)
• 2NF (Second Normal Form)
• 3NF (Third Normal Form)
• BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)

Normalization is an important part of the relational database management system. I will write a separate article on normalization and discuss it in detail.

I hope this article will help you to understand the database concept. In next article will see the step-by-step installation of SQL Server and Management Studio.