Glossary of Database Software Terms
A
Access
Also known as "Microsoft Access", or "Microsoft Office Access"; a scalable, entry-level, relational database management system produced by the Microsoft Corporation, for the creation, organisation and manipulation of data, including in web based applications. Access is flexible, in terms of its level of sophistication, such that it can be used effectively by individuals, small, medium-sized and large businesses.
Active Server Pages
Often abbreviated to "ASP"; another Microsoft technology, which works in combination with Microsoft IIS, or "Internet Information Server", allowing pages – which may link to SQL Server, or other, databases – to be created, typically using VBScript, or Jscript, based on Visual Basic, from Microsoft, and Java, from Sun Microsystems, respectively.
D
Data Mining
Sometimes known as "Knowledge Discovery in Databases", or KDD; a technique which involves the analysis of data in a database, or "data warehouse", to reveal relationships between data items that may not be immediately apparent. Data mining involves specialised techniques known as "classification", "clustering" and "regression".
DBMS
Abbreviation for "Database Management System"; in simple terms, the software that allows operations such as the creation, modification, deletion and retrieval of information to be performed on a database. Technically, a DBMS can be described as "flat", "hierarchical", "network", or "relational", depending on the way in which information is organised, internally. The term applies equally to small, desktop systems and large, enterprise-wide, server-based systems.
Desktop Database
As the name suggests, a database system that usually resides on a single PC, and is tailored towards less complex, single-user applications. Generally speaking, desktop databases are user-friendly, and intuitive, to use, and a comprehensive knowledge of SQL, or "Structured Query Language", is not required. SQL is supported, however, in many desktop databases, for more advanced programmers, as is static, or dynamic, web functionality.
M
MySQL
Reliable, high performance, "open source" database software, owned and distributed by Sun Microsystems. MySQL provides a highly scalable solution, for applications handing a few megabytes, to several terabytes, of data, and is the most popular database software of its kind, with over 100 million copies distributed worldwide.
N
Normalisation
The process of structuring a relational database in such a way that ambiguity, and redundancy – the occurrence of data, or a derivative of that data, in more than one place in a database – is eliminated. The result of each stage of the process is known as a "Normal Form"; there are five of these, in total – "First", "Second", "Third", etc. – although "Third Normal Form", or "Boyce-Codd Normal Form", is the limit of the implementation in most database designs.
O
ODBC
Abbreviation for "Open Database Connectivity"; often used in Microsoft Windows environments, and, as the name suggests, a protocol, or interface, which is used for accessing databases – relational, or otherwise – in a heterogeneous environment. This effectively means that an application can access data from a variety of data sources – Access, Oracle, etc. – without any change to the application code, provided that an ODBC driver exists for the back-end database.
OLTP
Abbreviation for "Online Transaction Processing"; a category of database management system which, as the name suggests, allows transactions to be performed in real-time, for some specific purpose, for example, data entry or retrieval transactions in banking, or retail, applications. One feature of OLTP is so-called "row level" locking, which prevents access to a single record in a database, for update, until the current transaction is complete.
P
Primary Key
The value, or values – in other words, the column, or combination of columns, in a table – which uniquely identifies a row in a relational database table; the primary key may be composed of a "real" value, or values, or generated by a database management system, itself. The concept of a primary key is central to the theory of relational database design, and is a determining factor in the performance of a database management system.
Q
Query
An instruction presented to a database in a predefined format – usually SQL, or "Structured Query Language" – for the retrieval of information from that database.
R
Referential Integrity
A database concept, or technique, that ensures that the consistency, or "integrity", of the data in the various tables of a database is maintained. For example, if one table is linked to another via a foreign key, a record cannot be created in the first table, unless a corresponding record exists, or is created, in the second table.
Relational Database
A database management system based on the so-called "relational" model, developed by E.F. Codd in 1970. The data, itself, and relationships, are organised into tables, on which storage and retrieval operations may be performed, subject to integrity constraints. Examples of relational databases include Ingres, Oracle, and Informix, from IBM.
S
Server Database
In contrast to desktop databases, server databases are tailored toward large, enterprise-wide, multi-user applications. As such, they tend to be more complex, including features that enhance their reliability – 24/7 operation is not uncommon – and data integrity, demand a high-performance server platform, and are correspondingly more expensive than desktop databases.
SQL
Abbreviation for "Structured Query Language"; the industry standard language for the querying, and manipulation, of data in a relational database, as well as administrative and management functions. SQL is both an ANSI ("American National Standards Institute") and ISO ("International Organisation for Standardisation") standard, although proprietary extensions have been added to the basic language in many database products.
Stored Procedure
Sometimes abbreviated to "SP"; a collection of SQL instructions, grouped together, and stored in a database data dictionary, from whence it can be executed, as a single entity, by any application which has access to that data dictionary. Stored procedures may offer logistic, and performance, advantages over standard SQL statements, and are typically used in data validation, or access control mechanisms.
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