This is an introductory course on databases comprising theoretical treatment and practice & experience exercises. The objective in the theoretical part is to introduce students to the central themes of database systems with emphasis on the following:

• Data modelling, database management systems, architecture of database management systems
• Conceptual data modelling using the Entity-Relationship model and the extended Entity-Relationship model as a tool for database design
• Logical database design using the relational model of data (with emphasis on primitive constructs, integrity constraints and data manipulation languages such as SQL

Students need not attend any lectures for the theory of the course. Instead, they can follow the instructions and material uploaded in the eClass course documents. Should the need arise students can arrange meetings with the instructor (either face-to-face or virtual) to assess any issues.

Practice & experience exercises seek to allow students to gain hands-on experience with the analysis and design of databases. This is achieved through a combination of dedicated exercises and / or suitable project using an established relational technology (such as PostgreSQL). Typically, the semester project is executed in phases including (a) data modeling using ER- models (b) relational database implementation using PostgreSQL (c) querying using SQL. Detailed instructions will be provided through eClass.

At the end of the semester, students should submit

• A report with their work on data modeling and the relational database design
• PostgreSQL script detailing the definition of the database and the insertion of sample data for all tables
• PostgreSQL for a set of queries (to be specified in due course)