Suggested Syllabus for a One Semester Applications Oriented Course

The following syllabus is designed for a course where the goal is to teach students how to use databases to construct applications. Details of database internals are kept to the minimum.

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Introducation to the Relational Model
• Chapter 3: Intoduction to SQL
• Chapter 4: Intermediate SQL
• Chapter 5: Advanced SQL
  • Sections 5.4 onwards can be deferred or omitted.
• Chapter 6: Other Relational Languages
  • Sections 6.1 (Relational Algebra) may be covered in brief.
  • Sections 6.2 (Tuple Relational Calculus) and 6.3 Domain Relational Calculus) may be omitted.
• Chapter 7: Entity-Relationship Model
• Chapter 8: Relational Database Design
• Chapter 9: Application Design and Development
• Chapter 10: Storage and File Structure
  • Sections 10.3 (RAID), 10.4 (Tertiary Storage) and 10.8 (Database Buffer) may be omitted if desired.
• Chapter 11: Indexing and Hashing
  • Cover only Sections 11.1 through 11.3 (B+-tree Index Files) with a brief outline of Section 11.5 (Multiple Key Access) and 11.6 (Static Hashing), and the idea of Dynamic Hashing.
• Chapter 12: Query Processing
  • Section 12.1 (Overview) should be covered. We suggest you cover Section 12.2 (Measures of Query Cost) as well as Section 12.5 (Join Operation) as far as time permits.
• Chapter 14: Transactions
• Chapter 20: Data Warehousing and Mining
  • We do not recommend covering this chapter in detail, but students should be to the concepts covered here, and in Section 5.6 (OLAP) and the chapter may be used as self-study material.
  
  
  
• Assignments/Project
  The course should be supplemented by assignments and a project. The assignments are to get students familiar with using databases, running queries and using application development tools.

  The project could involve the design of a schema for a realistic application, and the implementation of the entire application using SQL and language/APIs such as Java servlets/JSP, C# ASP, or PHP. See Chapter 9 for some suggestions on project topics.

Last updated November 2009.