CPSC 343: Database Theory and Practice
Fall 2004

Instructor

Stina Bridgeman
bridgeman@hws.edu
Lansing 312, x3614

Course Description

Information is the currency of the Information Age, but having vast quantities of information is useless if you cannot quickly locate the relevant data. Computer databases are used to store, organize, and retrieve information in a useful way. Databases are extremely common, particularly in conjunction with Web sites - if you've ever used amazon.com, eBay, or HWS' library catalog (to name just a few sites), you've interacted with a database.

The goal of this course is to provide an introduction to the theory and practice of relational databases. Three major aspects of relational databases will be addressed: designing, implementing, and querying a database; building a Web site which interacts with a database; and understanding how database systems store and process information reliably, securely, and efficiently. Both practical skills and the necessary theoretical underpinnings will be emphasized.

Office Hours

M 1:30-2:30pm, T 2:30-3:30pm, W 4:00-5:00pm, F 9:30-10:30am
or by appointment (schedule)

Class Hours and Meeting Place

Lecture/discussion MWF 3:00-3:55pm, Lansing 300

Some meetings will be in the Lansing 310 computer lab; these will be announced in advance.


Course Links


Announcements

[12/5] A list of review topics and sample problems for the final exam has been posted.

[11/29] Solutions for the second midterm have been posted.

[11/29] What is expected for the alpha release of the project: get at least some part of your project implemented, which involves at least one dynamically-generated page resulting from a query. You may need a few additional pages to get to that point (e.g. the main entry page with a menu, and the page(s) to implement one of the menu options). What to hand in: use ant handin to create a zip file for the web application, then copy the zip file to the handin directory as directed in the project information page. You only need to hand in one copy per group.

[11/16] Solutions for homework #6 have been posted.

[11/15] Solutions for homework #5 have been posted. Solutions for homework #6 will be posted soon.

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