CECS 521: Database Architecture Syllabus
Class Information
Required Materials
- Databases Systems: An Application-Oriented Approach by Michael Kifer, Arthur Bernstein, Philip M. Lewis
- Reliable e-mail service
Recommended
Catalog Description
Prerequisites: CECS 328 and CECS 323. Relational database design theory - a rigorous approach. Security, recovery, transaction management, distributed databases and query optimization. Additional projects required for CECS-621. (Lecture - problems 3 hours.) Traditional grading only.
Course Objectives
This graduate course covers advanced topics in database management systems. An undergraduate course in database management systems and a course on algorithms and data structures are required. The course will increase the student's knowledge to include system issues and also theoretical foundations. It will introduce recent topics in the field of database management systems.
Upon successful completion of this course, a student should:
- Be able to describe the architecture of a database system and the interaction between the different components
- Have an understanding of how transactions are processed by a DBMS to guarantee different levels of concurrency as well as have a thorough understanding of the ACID properties.
- Be able to determine how the DBMS processes a query and be able to analyze a query by viewing it as relational algebra operations. Be able to identify the operations where optimization may occur based on the organization and indexing of the data.
- Be current on advanced topics in database systems to include XML, Object Oriented and Object Relational Database Systems, OLAP, and data mining.
Course Topics
The following is a tentative list of topics that will be covered in this course. The topics listed can be found in the text and/or will be provided as handouts. These topics are also contained in other texts on database management systems. The list of topics may change, and if so, I will announce the changes made.
- Review background material, including the ER model, relational model, and relational algebra: Chapters 1, 2, 3 (relational model), 4 (ER model), 5 (RA and SQL), 6 (basics)
- Functional Dependencies and Normalization -- Chapter 6
- Relational Algebra and Structured Query Language (SQL): Chapters 5 and 8
- Data Organization and Indexing: Chapter 9
- Query processing and optimization, database tuning: Chapters 10, 11, 12
- Object Databases: Chapter 14
- XML and Web Data: Chapter 15
- OLAP and Data Mining: Chapter 17
- Transaction Processing, Models of transactions, Isolation: Chapters 18-23, Appendix A
Learning Activities
To achieve the course objectives, the student will be involved in several activities:
- Readings: The lectures will follow the topics covered in the textbook, but will attempt not to duplicate or repeat information. The textbook will elaborate on information presented in the lectures; additional information will be provided, as necessary, to complement the lectures and the textbook. Each student is responsible for reading the related material prior to each lecture.
- Lectures: students are expected to attend every lecture; this is where the topics will be introduced and where other learning activities will take place. Class participation is highly encouraged and will play a part in the overall grading scheme. You are allowed up to two unexcused absences, any more than that will deduct your grade. Furthermore, to earn the full grade for class participation you must be an active contributor in class. This can be accomplished by doing the reading ahead of time, taking part in class discussions, asking questions, etcetera.
- Homework assignments: Weekly/biweekly assignments will be handed out and must always be turned in at the start of lecture on the due date. No late assignments will be accepted. Homework will consist of problems from the textbook, some database problems (Oracle or other tools), and written reports on reading assignments. Additional forms of assignments may be given.
- Quizzes: There will be three quizzes. Depending on the quiz, you will have about 30 minutes to complete it.
- Exams: One midterm exam about half way thru the course and a cumulative final exam.
Grade Breakdown
| Attendance/Participation |
10% |
|
Quizzes
|
15% |
|
Homeworks and Labs
|
25% |
|
Midterm exam
|
25% |
|
Final exam
|
25% |
|
TOTAL
|
100%
|
Academic Honesty Policy
- Each student must complete the coursework on his/her own, unless directed to work in a group. Cheating and plagiarism of any form will not be tolerated.
- All students involved in plagiarized work or in which cheating has taken place, or completed by team effort – when instructed otherwise – will receive a zero grade for the assignment and their class grade will be lowered by a whole letter grade. NOTE: Depending on the severity of the situation and at the discretion of the instructor, a failure grade may be assigned for the class. Furthermore, the instructor may not authorize requests to withdraw from the class by students involved in plagiarism.
- At the discretion of the instructor, any student involved in a plagiarism/cheating incident may be reported to university officials so that further disciplinary actions may be taken. See the CSULB Catalog concerning plagiarism/cheating.
- You can discuss the course material – not the solutions on active assignments – with your classmates, but the work you submit for a class activity must be your own.
- If sources other than the textbook are used, the student must provide adequate citations to each and every source used, everywhere that it is used, not doing so constitutes plagiarism. Sources could be other books, web sites, instructors, etc. A complete list of references must be provided with the assignment.
- Do not use other people's work or give your work to others (intentionally or not) – this is considered cheating. E.g., do not leave print outs of code unattended, do not leave your computer unattended and do not forget to log out completely -- this can result in cheating.
Grading Policy
- If you do not agree with the grade on any activity, you may request that the grading of the activity be re-evaluated. The request must be made within 48 hours of having received the graded activity. The graded activity must be submitted to the instructor at the time of the request.
- Homework assignments will be collected at the beginning of class on the due date.
- Assignments and exams can only be made up with a valid excuse (e.g., official notice from doctor or the dean) and at least two days advance notice except in the case of a medical emergency. You should be in contact with the instructor as soon as possible regarding absences.
- No late assignments will be accepted otherwise.
Withdrawal
The drop date this semester is November 21 (you must drop by September 17 to avoid getting a W in your transcript). Dropping courses during the final three weeks of instruction is not permitted except in the case of accident or serious illness occurring during this period. Ordinarily withdrawals in this category will involve total withdrawal from the university and require approval of the instructor, the chairperson, and the dean. Do not wait until the last minute to seek these approvals. You should allow for the possibility that your instructor, as well as the department chairperson, may be unavailable on a given day.
The page with the following URL has additional important dates for Fall 2007: http://www.csulb.edu/depts/enrollment/dates/registration_fall.html
Important Information found in the University Catalog
Cheating and Plagiarism
The University Catalog provides information to students regarding cheating and plagiarism. You can read it online here: http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/catalog/07-08/campus_info/cheating.html. The campus policy can be found here: http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/research/our/information/policies/cheating/
Student Academic Honors Pledge
The University Catalog states the following:
The Student Academic Honors Pledge was approved by the Academic Senate and Associated Student Senate in 2004. The pledge states, "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination."
Recommended Student Load
http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/catalog/07-08/campus_info/student_unit.html
Students are expected to spend, on the average, two hours of preparation and study for each hour of class time. Thus, a three-unit lecture or discussion course normally demands a commitment of nine hours per week averaged over the semester, with the class meeting for three hours a week. This may be considered sufficient time to enable a student to do satisfactory work. Students who desire to achieve “A” or “B” grades may wish to spend proportionately more time in their studies.
Definitions of Grades and Grading Symbols
The University Catalog defines the grades to be assigned as follows – this is taken from the online catalog found at: http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/catalog/07-08/campus_info/grades.html.
The following definitions apply to grades assigned in all undergraduate and graduate courses.
“A” – Performance of the student has been at the highest level, showing sustained excellence in meeting all course requirements and exhibiting an unusual degree of intellectual initiative.
“B” – Performance of the student has been at a high level, showing consistent and effective achievement in meeting course requirements.
“C” – Performance of the student has been at an adequate level, meeting the basic requirements of the course.
“D” – Performance of the student has been less than adequate, meeting only the minimum course requirements.
“F”– Performance of the student has been such that minimal course requirements have not been met.