Carl Sable

Professor of Computer Engineering

ECE 464: Databases

Catalog Data:

Engineering and design of databases. Topics to be covered may include: data models, database and scheme design; schema normalization and integrity constraints; query processing and optimization; distributed and parallel databases; SQL and XML.

Topics:

  1. Introduction and course overview.
  2. Overview of database concepts.
  3. The entity-relationship (ER) data model.
  4. The relational data model.
  5. Relational algebra.
  6. The Structured Query Language (SQL).
  7. Overview of Java and object-oriented programming concepts.
  8. JDBC, JSP, and MySQL.
  9. Files and indexes.
  10. Query evaluation.
  11. Transactions.
  12. Physical database design.
  13. NoSQL.

Course Outcomes:

  1. Ability to design a database schema suitable for given data.
  2. An appreciation of the functionality of DBMSs.
  3. An in-depth understanding of the algorithms and data structures used by DBMSs.
  4. Ability to use a popular DBMS to design and implement a complete database application.

Assessment Methods:

Evaluation of the ER diagrams, database schemas, and final projects assess the students' abilities to design databases and implement database applications. Examinations test the students' knowledge of the workings of the DBMS.