Unit name | Databases |
---|---|
Unit code | COMSM0016 |
Credit points | 10 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Bernhard |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
COMSM1201 Programming in C |
Co-requisites |
COMSM0103 Object-Oriented Programming with Java COMSM0104 Web Technologies |
School/department | Department of Computer Science |
Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
This unit provides students with some theoretical and practical fundamentals of databases. The taught material is mainly practice-oriented and aims to put students in a position where they can successfully work with real-world databases as a software developer.
On completing this unit, you will have practical experience using a real-world database system. You will in particular be able to:
Analyse basic problems related to performance and scalability of databases and propose suitable solutions such as normalisation, indexing, replication/load balancing or sharding.
The unit will be taught in two phases. Phase 1 comprises 2 lectures/week and lab sessions where students practice working with databases, from schema design to query construction and execution.
Phase 2 comprises the final group project in which lectures and labs will be used as contact hours to support the groups on their projects as well as answering individual students' questions on the material of the entire unit.
Two coursework assessments, one 60%, one 40%
The main source of material for this unit will be the slides and notes provided by the unit director. Students may also wish to consult the following literature (available in the Queens' library). Purchasing textbooks is not required for completing this unit.
T. Connolly & C. Begg. Database Systems: A Practical Approach to design, Implementation, and Management Addison Wesley 4th Edition 2004 ISBN: 0321210255 Price: £60.00
J.D. Ullman & J. Widom. A First Course in Database Systems Prentice Hall 3rd Edition 2007 ISBN: 013600637X Price: £58.99
B. Karwin. SQL Antipatterns: avoiding the pitfalls of database programming. ISBN: 978-1-93435-655-5