Faculty of Computing and Informatics

Lesson 1
The Database Environment and Development Process
Adapted from: Modern Database Management 13th Edition
 Learning Objectives
After studying this lesson, you should be able to:

• Concisely define key terms such as database, data, information,

systems development life cycle, etc.
• Name several limitations of conventional file processing systems.
• Explain at least 10 advantages of the database approach.
• Identify risks of the database approach.
• Distiquish between operational and informational data management
approaches.
• Identify categories of applications that use databases and their key
characteristics .
• Describe the life cycle of a system development project.
 Data Matter

• The amount of data being generated, stored and processed is growing by

leaps and bounds

• As more and more of the word is becoming digital such as:

watches, refrigerators, etc. the amount of data that needs to be generated,
stored and processed will continue to grow

• Support business strategies to organise data so that various stakeholders

such as financial, marketing, etc. can use
 Basic Concepts and Definitions
Critical terms that are important to remember in Database Programming:

• Database: An organised collection of logically related data.

• Data: Stored representation of objects and events that have meaning and
importance in the user’s environment.
• Information: Data that have been processed in such a way as to increase the
knowledge of the person who uses the data.
• Metadata: Data that describe the properties of characteristics of end-user
data and the context of those data.
• Database application: An application program (or set of related programs)
that is used to perform a series of database activities on behalf of database
users.

You must remember the difference between data and information.

 The Database Approach
Critical elements to note:

• Data model: Graphical systems used to capture the nature and

relationships among data.
• Entity: A person, a place, an object, an event, or a concept in the user
environment about which the organization wishes to maintain data.
• Relational database: A database that represents data as a collection of
tables in which all data relationships are represented by common values in
related tables.
• Data independence: The separation of data descriptions from the
application programs that use the data.
• User view: A logical description of some portion of the database that is
required by a user to perform some task.
• Constraint: A rule that cannot be violated by database users.
 Components of the Database Environment

• Data modelling and design tools – Software tools that provide automated
support for creating data models.
• Repository – A centralised knowledge base of all data definitions, data
relationships, screen and report formats, and other system components.
 The Database Development Process

Systems
development
life cycle
(SDLC) –
The
traditional
methodology
used to
develop,
maintain, and
replace
information
systems.
The Prototyping Methodology
Developing a
Database
Application
example
 Summary
• The systems development life cycle can be presented by five methodological
steps:
1. Planning;
2. Analysis;
3. Design;
4. Implementation;
5. Maintenance.
• Database developers activities occur in each of these overlapping phases.
• Feedback occur that causes a project to return to prior phase.
• In prototyping, a database and its applications are interactively refined
through a close interaction of systems developers and users.
• Prototyping works best when the database application is small and stand-
alone and a small number of users exists.
• A modern database and the applications that use it may be located on
multiple computers.