Course Overview

A database is an organized collection of data. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality in a way that supports processes requiring this information.

Database management systems (DBMSs) are specially designed software applications that interact with the user, other applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze data. A general-purpose DBMS is a software system designed to allow the definition, creation, querying, update, and administration of databases. Well-known DBMSs include MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, SAP HANA, dBASE, FoxPro, IBM DB2, LibreOffice Base and FileMaker Pro. A database is not generally portable across different DBMSs, but different DBMSs can interoperate by using standards such as SQL and ODBC or JDBC to allow a single application to work with more than one database.