A database is used to store and organise data in a manner that makes it easy to access & retrieve.

A DBMS is a software that is designed to manage a database. Several clients can use a DBMS to run ope rations on the data stored in a database. Using a DBMS has Several advantages. The various information systems in a compan y can be updated or modified to meet changing requirements more easily. Categories of data can be added or removed wi thout disrupting the existing system. There are several types of DBMS software. One type can be used for processing da ily transactions whereas another is suited to handling random queries.DBMSs are mostly used in areas such as accounting and hu man resources, which require different types of data to be stored and processed. In the early days of information processing, when the file system was popular,ea ch person would work on independent files. Each person would make a personal copy of master file and work on it. As a resul t, it was likely that same bit of information was stored in two different files. Very often different programmers would use different programing languages and sa ve files in different formats, which resulted in redundancy and inconsistency.This also made data access and retrieval difficu lt. Information sharing across an organisationwas also adversely impacted. Data retrieval is a critical feature of any application. In the event of system failure, the traditional file system environment could not restore data to the s tate that existed before the system failed. Data security, too, was often compro mised because almost programs would be added to the system in a random,unplanned manner and almost everybody could access the data in the system. Features & attributes : A DBMS has also been described as an attribute management system where attribute s refer to the bits of information that describe an object. A DBMS allows users to combine features and services that are required frequntly , thus making the system more enhanced and powerful. Some such features include persistence,security and metadata repositary which enables users to get the bes t out of the dbms. persistence allows users to permenantly store attributes on a harddisk or some other reliable medium until is manually modified or removed. Security in a dbms is ensured by limiting the no. of people who can modify data or attributes of data. Metadata refers to data about data. dbms have several other features like query processing,concurrency,backup and re plication,rule enforcement and computation. Query processing : is the process of requesting information about the data in t he database. A query specifies the kind of data that is to be found, but not the method to be used to retrieve the data. When the user enters a query, the dbms is required to identify and executea strategy for retriving the results of the q uery. Three ways in which queries can be used to retrieve the data from the database: selecting the query parameters from a menu, querying by example and using query examples. Concurrency : It may happen that several people want to modify a certain piece o f data at the same time. The obscence of organised,set rulues for sharing modifi

cations may lead to chaos because everybody would be able to make changes of dat a. A dbms includes various tools and techniques,such as the use of transactions and locking for concurrency management. Rules try to ensure that data cannot be updated or deleted unless certain condit ions are met, which also ensures security of data. Backup and replication : In the event of hard disk crash or some other occurence that results in a loss of data, it is good to have copies of the data and attri butes. DBMS usually provide utilities to facilitate the process of extracing and disseminating attribute sets. Rule enforcement : Databases are accessible to a variety of users , sometimes da ta may also be updated or deleted by mistake. often data that is critical to a user from a particular department may be change d by a person from another deptment who needs to perform calculations that entai l modifying the data. Rules try to ensure that data cannot be updated or deleted unless certain cond itions are met which also ensures security of data. Computation : Users may often need to retrieve data that are common calculations or computations. Some common operations include counting,adding,averaging,sorti ng and grouping.Instead of individual computor applications carrying out these o perations, the dbms can perform them. Data abstracion : A DBMS should present the data to the user in a manner that i s easy to understand. Also, access to confidential data should be restricted. On ly authorised personnel should be allowed to view and interact with this data. Most modern databases support logical views, which show users only the database structure and contents that they are allowed to see, and deny them access to oth er parts of the database. Customsing the view based on what the user is allowed to see involves hiding o r abstracting,certain deals and complexities that are irrelevent to the user. The three main levels of data abstraction are p hysical, logical and view. The physical level describes the manner in which data is actually stored in th e database. The logical level, which is higher than the physical level describes the relationships between various types of data. The view level of data is the highest level of abstraction and describes a part of the database. Data models : A data model is the actual structure of DBMS. Essentially a data m odel is a collectionof tools that describes the various types of data and the relationship between them. There are four data models: entity-relationship, object-oriented, record-based and relational. Entity relationship model :In a database, entities have attributes associated wi th them. A relationship is an association among many entities. The entity-relati onship model is based on a collection of objects and of relationships between th em. The object oriented model is based on a collection of objects.An object contains the values stored in the variables in the object. These values may be in the fo rm of code or methods.An object can access data in another object.by sending a m essage to a method of the other object. As a result the communication takes plac

e between the external parts of the objects; the internal part remains inaccessi ble. Record based model : require the database to be structured in fixed format recor ds of several types. Each record must include the specified set of fields.the th ree most widely accepted record based data models are the relational, network an d hierarchial models. The relational model uses a collection of tables to represent both data and the relationship between data.Each table has multiple columns ans each column has a unique name. Each row in the table is tuple. each column represents the value of an attributeof the tuple. The data within a DBMS needs to be specified using specific statements that are in a data definition language(DDL). Once they are executed, DDL display results using information stored in a special file called a data dictionary,which conta insmatadata. A DDL is also used to specifystorage structures and access methods. The data manipulation language(DML) enables users to retrive, add,delete and u pdate based on the specifications of the data model.DMLs are of two types:proced ural and non procedural. Procedurals DMLs require the userto specify the type o f data needed and the method of data retrieving that data. In non procedural DMLs, on t he other hand, the user need not specify how to retrive the data. RDBMS IS MADE UP OF SEVERAL INDIVIDUAL DATABASES.THE DATA IN THESE INDIVIDUAL DA TABASES IS STORED IN TABLES.THE COLUMNS IN THE TABLES ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF DIFFERENT VALUES IN THE TABLE WHILE THE ROWS CONTAI N THE DATA SPECIFIC TO EACH ATTRIBUTE. AN SQL STATEMENT THAT IS WRITTEN TO PERFORM A CERTIN OPERATION ON THE DATABASE IS KNOWN AS QUERY. DDL STATEMENTS INCLUDE ALL THE COMMANDS THAT CAN BE USED TO BUILD AND MODIFY TH E STRUCTURE OF THE DATABASE. CREATE,INSERT, UPDATE,DELETE AND DROP STATEMENTS ARE DDL STATEMENTS. DML CAN BE USED TO SPECIFY A VALUE THAT IS PASSED ON TO DDL STATEMENTS TO CREAT E OR UPDATE A DATABASE. THE features of SQL include view definitions,transaction management, data integ rity and authorisation.SQL helps ensure data security by specifying integrity constraints.Database updates that disregard th ese constraints are not allowed. Using SQL commands, access rights can be specified .This ensures data security. The SELECT statement is used to query the database and retrieve infomn. that ma tches specified requirements. SELECT [criterian 1][criterian 3]...[criterian n] FROM[Tablename] It is mandatory for every SQL statement to have semocolon at the end. Conditions will be specified in WHERE clause.