DBMS- Set of programs for managing databases.

Allows storing, modifying, extracting data

Examples of DBMS: MySQL, PostgresSQL, MS Access, SQL Server, Oracle, Fox Pro

Advantages of DBMS

 Reduced data redundancy, avoiding duplication of files

 Reduced updating errors and increased consistency
 Greater data integrity and independence from applications programs
 Improved data access to users through use of host and query languages
 Improved data security and Integrity
 Reduced data entry and retrieval cost
 Centralised control

Disadvantages of DBMS

 Need to hire DB related employees/ Initial training required for all programmers.
 Database systems are complex
 Substantial hardware and software cost
 Damage to database affects virtually all application programs

Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)

- Program that allows creating, updating, and administration of relational database. Most commercial
RDBMS use structure Query Language (SQL) to access the database.

Advantages of RDBMS

 Possible to design complex data storage and retrieval systems with ease (and without conventional
programming)
 Support ACID transactions
o Atomic: Transactions are either all or none (commit/ rollback)

o Consistent: Only valid data are saved

o Independent: Transaction will not affect each other.

o Durable: written data will not be lost.

 Support very large databases

 Can maintain many users at the same time
Three Common Acronyms

SQL – Structured Query Language

CRUD – Create, Read, Update, Delete- Example:

ACID – Atomicity, Concurrency, Integrity and Durability (transaction)

Disadvantage of conventional flat file

 Redundancy - same data may store in many different copies

 Inconsistency – data regarding to same business entity may appear in
 different forms, for example, state name, phone number, etc. This made it
 hard to modify data and keep clean track of change; even loss of data
 Mixture of all data together – not clear in logical relationships between the
 data columns, thus hard to understand and manage once the data
 structure gets complex
 Hard to maintain and manage
 No concurrency support (only one can operate on the file)