Write about your understanding of databases. Explore the database advantages and write about database concepts such as primary and foreign keys

 What is database?

A database is an organised collection of data, stored and accessed electronically. Databases are used to store and manage large amounts of structured and unstructured data, and they can be used to support a wide range of activities (Simplilearn, 2023).

(Wickramasinghe, 2021)

Examples of databases 

1- Microsoft Access

2- SQL Server 

Advantages of database:

1 Improves Data Sharing

2 Reduces Data Redundancy

3 Proper Data Integration

4 Maintain Data Consistency

(CommerceMates, 2020)

Disadvantages of database:

1 Database systems are complex, difficult, and time-consuming to design

2 Substantial hardware and software start-up costs                                                      

3 Damage to database affects virtually all applications programs

(GeeksforGeeks, 2021)

The main concepts are:

 Table

Keys (Primary and Foreign Keys), 

Relationships

What is a primary and foreign key?

primary key:  is a column or group of columns that uniquely identifies every row in the table of the relational database management system. It cannot be a duplicate, meaning the same value should not appear more than once in the table.

foreign key: is a column that creates a relationship between two tables. The purpose of the Foreign key is to maintain data integrity and allow navigation between two different instances of an entity. It acts as a cross-reference between two tables as it references the primary key of another table.

(Peterson, 2023)

References:

Simplilearn (2023) What is a database? everything you need to know: Simplilearn, Simplilearn.com. Simplilearn. Available at: https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/dbms-tutorial/what-is-a-database (Accessed: March 13, 2023).

9, D., Wickramasinghe, S. and Raza, M. (2021) DBMS: Database Management Systems explained, BMC Blogs. Available at: https://www.bmc.com/blogs/dbms-database-management-systems/ (Accessed: March 15, 2023).

CommerceMates (2020) Advantages of Database Management System, CommerceMates. Available at: https://commercemates.com/advantages-of-database-management-system/?utm_content=cmp-true (Accessed: March 15, 2023).

GeeksforGeeks (2021) Disadvantages of DBMS, GeeksforGeeks. GeeksforGeeks. Available at: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/disadvantages-of-dbms/ (Accessed: March 15, 2023).

Peterson, R. (2023) Difference between primary key and foreign key, Guru99. Available at: https://www.guru99.com/difference-between-primary-key-and-foreign-key.html (Accessed: March 15, 2023).