CS 445: Introduction to Database Systems

Course Syllabus
Fall 2007

Introduction

An introduction to both the theory and application of Database Management Systems. Topics covered will include database design including normalization and optimization, the relational model, security, transaction management, and the query language SQL. Distributed and web architectures will be discussed. All topics in the course will be implemented concretely using a modern DBMS.

Topics

The Relational Model Concurrency
ER Diagrams Security
Relational Algebra MySQL
Indexing SQL
Query Evaluation Web enabled databases
Transaction Management LAMP

Grade Breakdown

Percent Breakdown

Midterm 1 15%
Midterm 2 15%
Final Exam 20%
Homework/Quizzes 15%
Programming Projects 35%
Gradebook Assignment
15 pts
Design Documents
25 pts
MySQL Database
35 pts
Web Interface
15 pts
Presentationss
10 pts
Total
100 pts
    92-100 A 90-92 A-
88-90 B+ 82-88 B 80-82 B-
78-80 C+ 72-78 C 70-72 C-
68-70 D+ 60-68 D    
    0-60 F    

Database Projects

This course will consist of two data base programming projects. The first, the Gradebook Assignment, will require the student to add a few tables to a database provided by the instructor. The student will also need to produce a set of SQL queries to process the data. The second assignment will require the student to design a database from the ground up. This includes producing documenation, not limited to ER diagrams, describing the database and its implementation. This database will need a web interface. We will discuss how to do this with PHP and the Apache webserver in class, but the student may choose any web interface. This assignment will be broken down into various milestones. Each milestone will be worth some percent of the final grade of the project. At the end of the semester each student will need to present his or her database project to the class. This should be a presentation of between 7 and 10 minutes describing the data and relationships in the database as well as a demonstration of the Web GUI.

All practical database work will need to be done using MySQL 5.0 Community Server. This is a free download. All projects are individual projects, do not allow any other student see your source code.

Details on how to submit each assignment will be specified later.

Academic Dishonesty

The cheating policy is defined in Pacific Stuff & the Pacific Catalog as well as the Academic Policy that each of you signed upon entering Pacific University. Be sure you read or reread this policy carefully. All code written for our course is to be an original design and an original implementation. The Web, textbooks, and any other references are simply references for you. Copying source code from any source is prohibited.

Further, source code is not to exchange hands in any form or by any medium except when sending your solutions to the instructor. It is OK to share high level ideas during the design phase, share information dealing with OS issues, debugger issues, in general, development issues that do not involve code writing.

Specific solutions to homework problems should not be discussed with any other students. The solutions should be an individual effort unless otherwise specified on the assignment. As with coding, high level concepts can be discussed. However, do not discuss specific homework problems or solutions.

If you have any question as to whether or not what you are about to do constitutes cheating, ask the instructor.

Course Policies

Resources

Textboox -- Database Management Systems, 3rd Edition, Ramakrishnan & Gehrke

Apachefriends http://www.apachefriends.org/en/index.html

PHP-MySQL Tutorial http://www.php-mysql-tutorial.com/

Web Database Application with PHP and MySQL, 2nd Edition http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/0596005431

OpenOffice.org -- Base http://www.openoffice.org/product/base.html

MySQL 5.0 Community Server http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.0.html#downloads

Visio Web GUI Template http://www.guuui.com/issues/02_07.php

Instructor Details

 

Course Basics

 
Professor Chadd Williams Course Title CS445 Introduction to Database Systems
Email chadd@pacificu.edu Meeting Times TTH 1:00 - 2:15 pm
Office Strain 202 Location Marsh LL12
Phone (503) 352-3041 Textbook Database Management Systems, 3rd Edition, Ramakrishnan & Gehrke
Office Hours Monday 1:00 - 2:00 PM Website http://zeus.cs.pacificu.edu/chadd/cs445f07
  Tues 10:00 - Noon Official Clock http://time.gov/timezone.cgi?Pacific/d/-8/java
  Thur 3:00 - 4:00 PM Final Exam Thursday, Dec 6, noon - 2:30 pm
  and by appointment    

Planned Exam Dates

Midterm Oct 2
Midterm Nov 6
Final Dec 6