Week 1 - CST363 First Post: Relational Database Reflections

From the orientation, your reading from week 1, and your own experience answer the following questions:


Relational database tables and spreadsheets look similar with both having rows and columns.  What are some important differences between the two?

At first glance, a relational database and a spreadsheet in an application such as Excel look fairly commensurate to each other in purpose and functionality--they both are comprised of rows and columns that hold data organized by column names and row numbers. The truth is that their visual similarity is where the commensuration ends and the vast differences begin. Relational databases adhere to strict and organized rules that ensure they can manage large volumes of structured data as well as complex queries to return results from that data whereas spreadsheets can be filled out arbitrarily. Foreign keys and primary keys can tie individual values or sets of values to other tables of data which in turn impact how data can be returned or changed while spreadsheets generally abide by far less sophistication. Database structures and queries all adhere to their own subsets of rules such as data types and constraints that ensure clarity and accuracy in perpetuity.

Installing and configuring a database and learning how to use it is more complicated than just reading and writing data to a file.  What are some important reasons that makes a database a useful investment of time? 

Data, such as what is read and written to a file, is useless without organization. While there are powerful sort algorithms available to programmers to implement across myriad languages, databases provide a necessary "structure" that allows for best practice and precision. I am not only referring to the literal structure for the data being handled but also a conceptual structure for programmers to follow that allows for maintaining integrity of the data while also carrying out complex functions and queries on that data. Multiple users writing data to a file would be a disaster without a database. Databases allow for backup, recovery, and security in a world that is increasingly shifting all of its data to the digital space. Beyond using databases to increase understanding of the architecture and landscape that a computer scientist may use daily, there are also many roles and careers that revolve around database programming and management.

What do you want to learn in this course that you think will be useful in your future career? 

I want to gain more familiarity and mastery in designing efficient and powerful relational databases, tools, and structures. There are many more SQL queries to learn and they have all been useful and interesting so far. Creating databases in Java feels quite primordial and esoteric, I would like to get even more comfortable creating schema, tuples, tables, and queries outside of SQL. There is a lot more context and insight to gain with the bridges between applications and databases that I am now becoming aware of in a deeper and more profound way. Data management is a crucial aspect of being an amazing programmer and computer scientist, so I am buckled in. 

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Introduction and First Post!

     Greetings! My name is Liam, and I am a Computer Science major. It has been a long road back to university, so I am excited to document this process with CSUMB. The first week has been rife with wiping the dust off of a few common best practices and procedures for writing based assignments and online classes. As someone who has been documenting work processes for multiple industries across a decade, I am brutally in touch with the need for proceduralizing and very appreciative of CSUMB's online learning structure. I have learned from this week's cohort-wide discussion posts that I am working with a wonderful variety of kind and intelligent folks who I am excited to keep learning and collaborating with, many of us seem to be in a similarly unique and formative chapter of our professional lives and that is very special to share. Creating a study schedule and reviewing important paper-writing practices such as properly citing sources has been crucial. While I am anxious to continu...
    Read more

    Week 2: Learning Strategy Reflections, Time Management Activity Log, Project Management Basics, Previous Capstones That Interest Me, Weekly Reflection

    Image
      3 learning strategies I am good at and 3 learning strategies to improve from Dr. Bob Kizlik's Effective Study Skills piece:              Dr. Kizlik's write-up on effective study skills gave me a lot to consider. On one hand, I feel particularly capable of a handful of approaches listed but on the other hand, there are more abstract elements of effective studying that I still need to nail down for myself. As far as more controlled aspects of my personal study culture go, I will say I am great at making a study schedule, gathering the proper materials before writing or working, and making every hour that I am actually studying count.           It's difficult for me to begin working on any project without mapping out the workflow and estimating rough windows of time that each phase of the process might take. I am good at reassessing how I need to use the allotted study or work time as usefully as possible. As ...
    Read more

    Educational Goals, Career Goals, ETS Comp Sci Test Estimate, and Weekly Reflection

     Part One: Educational Goals By the end of the Computer Science Online program at CSU Monterey Bay, I will have gained a comprehensive, practical understanding of software engineering, specifically focusing on preparing to begin projects regarding the development and implementation of network security and encryption tools. I will achieve this by applying my coursework knowledge to real-world programming challenges, possible internships, and by building a portfolio of projects of all varieties that demonstrate my growth in both coding and cybersecurity skills. I will actively pursue certification programs like CEH and CISSP to supplement my academic education and ensure I am industry-ready. I don't regard this as Plan A, but if AI truly does obliterate the computer science job industry, I will need to sharpen my skills and knowledge even further through a Master of Computer Science or Data Science or perhaps even AI or Statistics.  This goal is vivid because it specifi...
    Read more