CS 122A: Introduction to Data Management

This course provides students with an introduction to the design of databases and the use of database management systems in support of applications. It covers the entity relationship (E/R) approach to database design. It then covers the relational data model, mapping of E/R designs to relations, relational database design principles, abstract query languages such as the relational algebra and relational calculus, and the industry-standard query language, SQL. Students will gain exposure to how relational database management systems are used to manage an actual database. Time permitting, the course will also touch lightly on advanced database management topics such as transactions and/or semi-structured data management.

This course is aimed at database design and the use of database management systems in implementing database applications. It feeds into a follow-on project course, CS122B, whose focus is data-centric Web applications. The CS122A/B course sequence does NOT cover the internals of database systems; that material is covered in the undergraduate course CS122C and its graduate-level follow-on course CS223. (The course textbook also delves further into that material for those students who are curious about what goes on under the hood.) Interested students are strongly encouraged to take one, two, or all of these courses; CS122B and CS122C are independent, and each requires only CS122A as their required database background.