Introduction to Databases

Introduction to Databases

In the broadest definition, a database is an orderly collection of data. A database, in more specific terms, is an electronic system that allows data to be quickly accessed, modified, and updated.

In other words, a database is used by an organization to store, manage, and retrieve information electronically. The database is a pillar of enterprise IT, and its capacity to organize, process, and manage information in an organized and controlled manner is critical to many elements of modern company productivity.

Databases, on the other hand, do much more than just store data. As we’ll see later, the underlying logic and efficiency in how data is kept and accessed may offer an organization an extraordinarily effective business tool. This is especially true when databases’ reporting and business intelligence capabilities are effectively utilized

Databases’ Importance in Today’s World

1. So, what kinds of organizations require and profit from database use? In a nutshell, any company or organization that has to keep track of a large number of clients or items qualifies. By “massive,” we imply much more than the human brain can store.
2. A detractor might still argue that there are countless mom-and-pop shops that do just fine keeping track of inventory and profit/loss with a trusty notebook and calculator. True, but even for tiny firms, using an electronic database may be beneficial. 
3. A ledger, for instance, cannot run a simulation to extrapolate earnings if a company raises the price of ballpoint pens by 2 cents. That is something that a database can accomplish. 
4. The ledger cannot provide a report that tracks re-order levels for all goods to inform the business owner which things should be refilled when throughout the year.
5. A database can do the same thing. A database can even notify the business owner automatically through email or text messages.
6. Large businesses with hundreds of thousands, millions, or tens of millions of customers and goods, as well as the need to store massive amounts of individual data items for customers, are currently limited to the most significant value of databases.
7. A commercial bank, for example, requires personal information such as names, dates of birth, addresses, and Social Security numbers from all of its millions of customers, and so on. Each consumer generates a new set of data based on the items he or she has chosen, such as account type, account number, account balance, mortgage amount, credit card loan, payback duration, and so on. The third set of information relates to the customer’s individual transactions, such as the date, amount, balance remaining, bank fees, loan amount still owed, and so on.
8. Obviously, a single consumer may create a massive quantity of data in a relatively short period of time. 
9. When multiplied by millions of clients, it’s easy to understand why having an effective data storage and retrieval medium is not just a good idea, but also vitally necessary in keeping the bank’s operations running smoothly.

Databases’ History

It is critical to recognize that the method of storing records in databases that we are familiar with and rely on is not a recent development. The computerization of this approach, which began in the 1960s, is relatively new. It is worth noting that paper-based records, including ledger-based bookkeeping, are all (technically) kinds of databases. In other words, a database does not have to be computerized. Computerization merely created a database management system (DBMS) that is demonstrably more powerful, accurate, and capable than a simple ledger or a feeble human brain. And, while the term “database” is commonly used to refer to the DBMS, the two are not synonymous; all thumbs (DBMSs) are fingers (databases), but not all fingers are thumbs.

The first database systems were mostly used for navigation. This implies that applications read and process data by exploiting pointers encoded in the data. The pointer directed to the next data item might be doubly linked, providing access to both the previous and next data item. This is similar to how hyperlinks on a Web page work, directing visitors to a related page from the current one. At the time, the two dominant data models were the hierarchical model exemplified by IBM’s IMS system and the Codasyl, or network, model. All of this, however, was overtaken and reduced to historical footnotes by the development of the relational model by a great computer scientist named E.F. Codd.

Finally, databases are far more efficient than spreadsheets for storing and organizing data; they provide a centralized facility that can be easily updated and shared among multiple users.