An Introduction to Database Systems

There are several software-based products that help you build and maintain
databases. These software products are known as database management
systems (DBMS). In addition to letting you build a database, most DBMS
applications will interact with a user, or multiple users. They will also let you
perform operations on the data in their repository. DBMS systems are
always based on a computer language (which can vary). A user has to type
commands in this language if he wants to interact with the data on the
system as well as the software he is using.

Key Difference between DBMS and RDBMS

So what is the main difference between DBMS and RDBMS? The key
difference is that RDBMS (relational database management system)
applications store data in a tabular form, while DBMS applications store
data as files. Does that mean there are no tables in a DBMS? There can be,
but there will be no relation between the tables, like in a RDBMS. In
DBMS, data is generally stored in either a hierarchical form or a navigational
form. This means that a single data unit will have one parent node and zero,
one or more children nodes. It may even be stored in a graph form, which
can be seen in the network model.

In a RDBMS, the tables will have an identifier called primary key. Data
values will be stored in the form of tables. The relationships between these
data values will be stored in the form of a table as well. Every value stored
in the relational database is accessible. This value can be updated by the
system. The data in this system is also physically and logically independent.

You can say that a RDBMS is an in an extension of a DBMS, even if there

are many differences between the two. Most software products in the market
today are both DBMS and RDBMS compliant. Essentially, they can maintain
databases in a (relational) tabular form as well as a file form, or both. This
means that today a RDBMS application is a DBMS application, and vice
versa. However, there are still major differences between a relational
database system for storing data and a plain database system.

History of DBMS and RDBMS

Database management systems first appeared on the scene in 1960 as
computers began to grow in power and speed. In the middle of 1960, there
were several commercial applications in the market that were capable of
producing navigational databases. These navigational databases
maintained records that could only be processed sequentially, which
required a lot of computer resources and time.

Relational database management systems were first suggested by Edgar

Codd in the 1970s. Because navigational databases could not be searched,
Edgar Codd suggested another model that could be followed to construct a
database. This was the relational model that allowed users to search it for
data. It included the integration of the navigational model, along with a
tabular and hierarchical model.

The Client Server Architecture

Database management systems like the ones youll learn about in this
course (at least the pure DBMS applications) do not support the client-
server architecture, while relational database management systems do.
What is the client-server database model exactly? In a client-server
database model, data is stored in a central location on a server. This server
can share the data between one or more users, which are referred to as
clients. However, this is not a distinction that is relevant today, where a
DBMS program is a RDBMS program, and vice versa.

Ease of Access
It is generally easier to access data that is stored in a relational database.
This is because the data in a relational database follows a mathematical
model for categorization. Also, once we open a relational database, each and
every element of that database becomes accessible, which is not always the
case with a normal database (the data elements may need to be accessed
individually).

It is also easier to find data in a relational database. You can query a

relational database in its native language without knowing the value of a key
or index.

Storage Standards
Relational databases are harder to construct, but they are better structured
and more secure. They follow the ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation and
durability) model when storing data. The relational database system will also
impose certain regulations and conditions that may not allow you to
manipulate data in a way that destabilizes the integrity of the system.

In a regular database, the data may not be stored following the ACID model.
This may introduce inconsistencies in the database. It may even cause the
database to become unstable over time or it may put the security of the data
at risk.

The Best Database Management Program in the Market

At the moment, if you look at sales, Oracle is the best database management
system in the market. Theres a great beginners course for Oracle here. It is
far ahead of its nearest competitors, which include IBM (DB2 UDB), SAP,
Microsoft (SQL Server) and Teradata. Oracle is produced and marketed by
the Oracle Corporation. Oracle and IBM have a working partnership of
sorts- many of their products are compatible with each other (mostly
because they share the same customers).

The Oracle database can be queried through PL/SQL (Procedural Language/

Structured Query Language). PL/SQL is derived from the Pascal language,
and its coding bears a striking similarity to Ada. If you are familiar with Java
or C++, you will find it easy to learn PL/SQL.

If youre looking to become a system administrator, you can either get

yourself a copy of Oracle or you can look at some of the open source
alternatives in the market today like Firebird, MySQL and PostgreSQL. Here
at Udemy, we have lots of courses to help you learn whatever system
administration tool interests you, like this beginners course on MySQL
development.