CECS-521: Database Architecture

This site contains information about the activities carried out in the graduate database architecture class, CECS-521, during Fall-2007. Here you'll find the most recent activities in each of the different categories and you'll also find announcements. You cand read the class syllabus to get more administrative details about the class for Fall-2007.

Resources

  1. A web page I created explaining B+-trees for the undergraduate database class.
  2. Authors' animations of Merge step, Block-Nested Loop Join, and Join During Merge algorithms from Chapter 10 (PPT show)
  3. To install Eclipse + Derby on your home computer follow these instructions.

Readings and Lectures

Following is a brief description of the concepts introduced during each of the fifteen weeks of the course.

  1. Review fundamental database concepts: relational model, SQL, Relational Algebra.
  2. Relational Model, Normalization: Functional Dependencies, BCNF, properties of decompositions. Chapter 6, up to and including section 6.5
  3. Normalization theory: Sections 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.13
  4. Wrap up discussion of Normalization (if needed)
  5. Physical Data Organization and Indexing (Chapter 9)
  6. Indexing (Chapter 9 )
  7. Query Processing (Chapter 10), Basics of Relational Algebra (Section 5.1 in the textbook)
  8. Query Optimization (Chapter 11)
  9. Tuesday October 30th: Midterm. Thursday Nov. 1: Finish Chapter 11.
  10. Database Tuning (Chapter 12). OLAP and Data Mining (Chapter 17).
  11. OLAP and Data Mining continued. Quiz #2 will be during this week.
  12. OLAP and Data Mining -- no class on Thursday due to Thanksgiving break.
  13. Transaction Processing (Appendix A plus selected sections from Chapters 18--22)
  14. Transaction Processing. Quiz #3 on Thursday of this week.
  15. [Topics for week of Dec. 11] Group Presentations on XML and Web Data (Chapter 15)

Activities

Date Activity Notes
Dec. 11 Group presentations on the XML and Web Data topic chosen. Each group has 30minutes for the presentation; every member must present.
Dec. 6 Quiz #3: OLAP & Data Mining Conceptual questions as well as questions asking you to compute entropy, information gain, etc.
Nov. 15 Quiz #2: Query Optimization A problem similar to 11.7 and 11.8, plus conceptual questions.
Nov. 8 Assignment #5: Lecture on OODB and XML. Due last week of semester.
Oct. 30 Midterm: comprehensive
Oct. 16 Assignment #4: Query processing Due Oct. 23
Oct. 9 Assignment #3: 3NF normalization and indices. Due Oct. 16

Database Resources