Database: 

Database is a collection of inter-related data which helps in efficient retrieval,

insertion and deletion of data from database and organizes the data in the form of tables,
views, schemas, reports etc. For Example, university database organizes the data about
students, faculty, and admin staff etc. which helps in efficient retrieval, insertion and deletion
of data from it.

DDL is short name of Data Definition Language, which deals with database schemas and
descriptions, of how the data should reside in the database.

 CREATE: to create a database and its objects like (table, index, views, store procedure,
function, and triggers)
 ALTER: alters the structure of the existing database
 DROP: delete objects from the database
 TRUNCATE: remove all records from a table, including all spaces allocated for the
records are removed
 COMMENT: add comments to the data dictionary
 RENAME: rename an object

DML is short name of Data Manipulation Language which deals with data manipulation and
includes most common SQL statements such SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, etc.,
and it is used to store, modify, retrieve, delete and update data in a database.

 SELECT: retrieve data from a database

 INSERT: insert data into a table
 UPDATE: updates existing data within a table
 DELETE: Delete all records from a database table
 MERGE: UPSERT operation (insert or update)
Create table student( srno number(3) primary key, name varchar(10),address
varchar(20),salary number(8));
Alter table student modify phno number(10);
Alter table student add mobile number(10);
Alter table student add course varchar(10);

Insert into student(1,’Shashank’,’Deccan’,45678978);

Update student set mobile =9867564366 where srno=1;
Update student set mobile=9087654356 where srno=2;
Update student set course =’BBA CA’;
Sr No Name Text (10) Address ALTER Phone Mobile(10) Course
Numeric Text no numeric
(3) (20) (10)
1 Shashank Deccan 45678978 9867564366 BBA CA’
 2 Shashank Baner 45673456 9867564366 BBA CA’

Delete from student where sno=2;

Database Management System: The software which is used to manage database is called Database
Management System (DBMS). For Example, MySQL, Oracle etc. are popular commercial DBMS used
in different applications. DBMS allows users the following tasks:

Data Definition: It helps in creation, modification and removal of definitions that define the
organization of data in database.

Data Updation: It helps in insertion, modification and deletion of the actual data in the
database.

Data Retrieval: It helps in retrieval of data from the database which can be used by
applications for various purposes.

User Administration: It helps in registering and monitoring users, enforcing data security,
monitoring performance, maintaining data integrity, dealing with concurrency control and
recovering information corrupted by unexpected failure.

Paradigm Shift from File System to DBMS

 File System manages data using files in hard disk. Users are allowed to create, delete, and
update the files according to their requirement. Let us consider the example of file based
University Management System. Data of students is available to their respective
Departments, Academics Section, Result Section, Accounts Section, Hostel Office etc. Some
of the data is common for all sections like Roll No, Name, Father Name, Address and Phone
number of students but some data is available to a particular section only like Hostel
allotment number which is a part of hostel office. Let us discuss the issues with this system:

 Redundancy of data: Data is said to be redundant if same data is copied at many

places. If a student wants to change Phone number, he has to get it updated at various
sections. Similarly, old records must be deleted from all sections representing that
student.

 Inconsistency of Data: Data is said to be inconsistent if multiple copies of same data

does not match with each other. If Phone number is different in Accounts Section and
Academics Section, it will be inconsistent. Inconsistency may be because of typing
errors or not updating all copies of same data.

 Difficult Data Access: A user should know the exact location of file to access data,
so the process is very cumbersome and tedious. If user wants to search student hostel
allotment number of a student from 10000 unsorted students’ records, how difficult it
can be.
  Unauthorized Access: File System may lead to unauthorized access to data. If a
student gets access to file having his marks, he can change it in unauthorized way.

 No Concurrent Access: The access of same data by multiple users at same time is
known as concurrency. File system does not allow concurrency as data can be
accessed by only one user at a time.

 No Backup and Recovery: File system does not incorporate any backup and
recovery of data if a file is lost or corrupted.

DBMS 3-tier Architecture

DBMS 3-tier architecture divides the complete system into three inter-related but
independent modules as shown below:

1. Physical Level: At the physical level, the information about the location of database
objects in the data store is kept. Various users of DBMS are unaware of the locations
of these objects.In simple terms,physical level of a database describes how the data is
being stored in secondary storage devices like disks and tapes and also gives insights
on additional storage details.
2. Conceptual Level: At conceptual level, data is represented in the form of various
database tables. For Example, STUDENT database may contain STUDENT and
COURSE tables which will be visible to users but users are unaware of their
storage.Also referred as logical schema,it describes what kind of data is to be stored in
the database.
3. External Level:  An external level specifies a view of the data in terms of conceptual
level tables.  Each external level view is used to cater to the needs of a particular
category of users. For Example, FACULTY of a university is interested in looking
course details of students, STUDENTS are interested in looking at all details related
to academics, accounts, courses and hostel details as well. So, different views can be
generated for different users. The main focus of external level is data abstraction.

Data Independence

Data independence means a change of data at one level should not affect another level. Two
types of data independence are present in this architecture:

1. Physical Data Independence: Any change in the physical location of tables and
indexes should not affect the conceptual level or external view of data. This data
independence is easy to achieve and implemented by most of the DBMS.
 2. Conceptual Data Independence: The data at conceptual level schema and external
level schema must be independent. This means a change in conceptual schema should
not affect external schema. e.g.; Adding or deleting attributes of a table should not
affect the user’s view of the table. But this type of independence is difficult to achieve
as compared to physical data independence because the changes in conceptual schema
are reflected in the user’s view.

Phases of database design

Database designing for a real-world application starts from capturing the requirements to
physical implementation using DBMS software which consists of following steps shown
below:

Conceptual Design: The requirements of database are captured using high level conceptual
data model. For Example, the ER model is used for the conceptual design of the database.

Logical Design: Logical Design represents data in the form of relational model. ER diagram
produced in the conceptual design phase is used to convert the data into the Relational Model.
Physical Design: In physical design, data in relational model is implemented using
commercial DBMS like Oracle, DB2.

Advantages of DBMS

 DBMS helps in efficient organization of data in database which has following advantages
over typical file system:

 Minimized redundancy and data inconsistency: Data is normalized in DBMS to

minimize the redundancy which helps in keeping data consistent. For Example,
student information can be kept at one place in DBMS and accessed by different
users.This minimized redundancy is due to primary key and foreign keys
 Simplified Data Access: A user need only name of the relation not exact location to
access data, so the process is very simple.
 Multiple data views: Different views of same data can be created to cater the needs
of different users. For Example, faculty salary information can be hidden from student
view of data but shown in admin view.
 Data Security: Only authorized users are allowed to access the data in DBMS. Also,
data can be encrypted by DBMS which makes it secure.
 Concurrent access to data: Data can be accessed concurrently by different users at
same time in DBMS.
 Backup and Recovery mechanism: DBMS backup and recovery mechanism helps
to avoid data loss and data inconsistency in case of catastrophic failures.

DDL(Data Definition Language) : DDL or Data Definition Language actually consists of

the SQL commands that can be used to define the database schema. It simply deals with
descriptions of the database schema and is used to create and modify the structure of database
objects in the database.

Examples of DDL commands: 

 CREATE – is used to create the database or its objects (like table, index, function,
views, store procedure and triggers).
 DROP – is used to delete objects from the database.
 ALTER-is used to alter the structure of the database.
 TRUNCATE–is used to remove all records from a table, including all spaces
allocated for the records are removed.
 RENAME –is used to rename an object existing in the database.

DML(Data Manipulation Language): The SQL commands that deals with the manipulation of data
present in the database belong to DML or Data Manipulation Language and this includes most of the
SQL statements. 

Examples of DML: 

 INSERT – is used to insert data into a table.

 UPDATE – is used to update existing data within a table.
 DELETE – is used to delete records from a database table.
DCL(Data Control Language): DCL includes commands such as GRANT and REVOKE
which mainly deal with the rights, permissions and other controls of the database system. 

Examples of DCL commands: 

 GRANT-gives users access privileges to the database.

 REVOKE-withdraw user’s access privileges given by using the GRANT command.

TCL(transaction Control Language): TCL commands deal with the transaction within the
database. 

Examples of TCL commands: 

 COMMIT– commits a Transaction.

 ROLLBACK– rollbacks a transaction in case of any error occurs.
 SAVEPOINT–sets a savepoint within a transaction.
 DDL:
DDL is Data Definition Language which is used to define data structures. For
example: create table, alter table are instructions in SQL.
 DML:
DML is Data Manipulation Language which is used to manipulate data itself. For
example: insert, update, delete are instructions in SQL.
 Difference between DDL and DML:

DDL DML
It stands for Data Manipulation
It stands for Data Definition Language.
Language.
It is used to create database schema and can It is used to add, retrieve or update the
be used to define some constraints as well. data.
It basically defines the column (Attributes) It add or update the row of the table.
of the table. These rows are called as tuple.
It is further classified into Procedural
It doesn’t have any further classification.
and Non-Procedural DML.
Basic command present in DDL are BASIC command present in DML are
CREATE, DROP, RENAME, ALTER etc. UPDATE, INSERT, MERGE etc.
DDL does not use WHERE clause in its While DML uses WHERE clause in
statement. its statement.

DDL Commands & Syntax

 Last Updated : 31 May, 2021

In this article, we will discuss the overview of DDL commands and will understand DDL
commands like create, alter, truncate, drop. We will cover each command syntax with the
help of an example for better understanding. Let’s discuss it one by one.
Overview :
Data Definition Language(DDL) is a subset of SQL and a part of DBMS(Database
Management System). DDL consist of Commands to commands like CREATE, ALTER,
TRUNCATE and DROP. These commands are used to create or modify the tables in SQL.

DDL Commands :
In this section, We will cover the following DDL commands as follows.

1. Create
2. Alter 
3. truncate
4. drop

Let’s discuss it one by one.

Command-1 :
CREATE :
This command is used to create a new table in SQL. The user has to give information like
table name, column names, and their datatypes.

Syntax –

CREATE TABLE table_name

(
column_1 datatype,
column_2 datatype,
column_3 datatype,
....
);

Example –
We need to create a table for storing Student information of a particular College. Create
syntax would be as below.

CREATE TABLE Student_info

(
College_Id number(2),
College_name varchar(30),
Branch varchar(10)
);

Command-2 :
ALTER :
This command is used to add, delete or change columns in the existing table. The user needs
to know the existing table name and can do add, delete or modify tasks easily.

Syntax –
Syntax to add a column to an existing table.

ALTER TABLE table_name

ADD column_name datatype;
Example –
In our Student_info table, we want to add a new column for CGPA. The syntax would be as
below as follows.

ALTER TABLE Student_info

ADD CGPA number;

Command-3 :
TRUNCATE :
This command is used to remove all rows from the table, but the structure of the table still
exists.

Syntax –
Syntax to remove an existing table.

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name;

Example –
The College Authority wants to remove the details of all students for new batches but wants
to keep the table structure. The command they can use is as follows.

TRUNCATE TABLE Student_info;

Command-4 :
DROP :
This command is used to remove an existing table along with its structure from the Database.

Syntax –
Syntax to drop an existing table.

DROP TABLE table_name;

Example –
If the College Authority wants to change their Database by deleting the Student_info Table. 

DROP TABLE Student_info;