Introduction to Databases
WHAT IS A DATABASE?
A Database is an Organized collection of Data. In order to store, retrieve, and manipulate the data in the database, we have to use a database management system(DBMS).DBMS is a software that interacts with end-users, applications, and the database itself.
Evolution of DATABASE
1960's
The first generation of database was navigational database. These database applications accessed data by following pointers from one to another. Storage details depended on the type of data to be stored. A user would need to know the physical structure of the database in order to query for information. An example for DBMS in this time period is IMS (Information Management System) which is devolved by IBM.
1970's
In 1970 the relational database model was conceived by E.F Codd. His System can be defined by two terminologies. Instance, a table with rows and columns and schema, specifies the structure, including the name of relation, name, and type of each column. During the period 1974 to 1977, two major relational database systems called INGRES Which were developed by university of California and System R which was developed by IBM were created. In 1976 a new database model Entity- relationship was proposed by P.chen.
1980's
Commercialization of relational systems begins as a boom in computer purchasing fuels the database market for business. SQL became the standard query language. All these systems like RIM,PARADOX,Dbase III,FoxBASE were based on the tional model. And also, during this period the Concept of Object-Oriented database was developed.
1990's
In the early 1990s, the Object-Relational database model was developed, and the industry shakeout resulted in fewer surviving companies offering increasingly complex products at higher prices. This time period also marked the development of personal productivity tools, such as Microsoft Access, Excel and ODBC (open database connectivity).Around the mid-1990’s, the usable Internet, World Wide Web appeared. This allowed remote access to computer systems with legacy data.
2000's
Once the 2000’s arrived, there was a steep decline in the Internet industry as a whole, but solid growth of database applications continued. More interactive applications appeared with the use of PDAs(Personal Data Assistants), Point-of-sales transactions, and consolidation of vendors. Three main companies like IBM,Microsoft,Oracle dominated the larger market share of databases. Databases have become more sophisticated and have features such as triggers, cascading update, and delete.
Today
Today, databases are everywhere and are used to enhance our day-to-day life. From personal cloud storage to predicting the weather, many of the services we utilize today are possible due to databases. Presently, there are many new players in the non-relational database space offering specific solutions. Some of the current relational databases include giants such as Oracle, MySQL, and DB2.
Databases in real life
The move from paper to computer databases was a huge leap in information management and storage. Databases are much more efficient than paper storage in that they take up less space, are easily accessed by multiple users at once and can be transferred long distances with virtually no delay.
Databases are obviously used in business applications and financial transactions. however, databases are not just used for business applications. grocery store, bank, video rental store, and favorite clothing store all use databases to keep track of customer, inventory, employee, and accounting information. Databases allow for data to be stored quickly and easily and are used in many aspects of daily life.
Can We live without Databases?
By today, So many industries are using databases for their day to day works. As an example Financial sector, Medical and Healthcare, Transportation, Sales and Purchasing, Researching, Security,and so on. If we consider the financial sector, without database will mean the end of the road for financial institutions. Financial institutions would not be able to survive without databases as their functioning involves databases either for customers or for clients and if they are not able to provide their clients some information, many other industries will also be affected as a result.
When we talk about the researching, without databases researchers can not continue their research because of not having previous information about their experiments. Not only researchers but also data analysts will not have anything to do without databases. Because the whole career of data analysts is depended on the databases.
The companies which have thousands of customers have to keep confidential information about their customers safely.to do that they have to store all information in databases. Without databases will they be able to manage it?
Additionally, Cloud computing services are becoming very common in everyone’s lives. Most people use them but don’t even realize that the main thing behind cloud computing is databases. Without databases how the companies who provide cloud computing services continue their services.
Finally, If there are no databases, Peace of mind will not be there.
