Database Design: A Modern Approach

Overview

For many new or intermediate database developers, it’s difficult to know where to start when designing a relational database. It’s easy to make the mistake of assuming that the functionality of a database will take shape over time, or the design will fall into place as you build the database. This course introduces a process for effectively planning and designing a functional, efficient database. Knowing how to plan a relational database is important to the success of the databases you create. Without planning, you cannot possibly know what the database needs to do, or even what information to include in the database. Planning a database is essential and prevents the extra work of fixing data maintenance problems later on. The concepts are not specific to a particular software application and can be applied to any relational database management system. This course is designed for students who need to learn database design essentials, typically in preparation for, or as a supplement to, a course on SQL such as Logical Operations' SQL Querying: Fundamentals and courses on specific relational database platforms. In this course, you will: follow an efficient process for designing a relational database; define the database conceptual model; define the database logical model; apply database normalization methods to improve the initial design of a database; and complete the database design, including controls to ensure its referential integrity and data integrity.

Syllabus

Getting Started with Relational Database Design

You have data that needs to be stored in a database. You may have used a database program before, but using a database and creating one are not the same thing. In this lesson, you will gather information to plan a database.

Defining the Database Conceptual Model

You have gathered requirements and information sources, and now you are ready to begin sketching out the design for the database. You will start by identifying concepts that you will represent in the database.

Defining the Database Logical Model

After you've gathered requirements and identified the concepts your database will represent, you can start modeling the database logic.

Normalizing Data

You've incorporated into your database design all of the concepts that you need to represent. You've identified tables and many of the columns that need to go into them, as well as the relationships between each table. Now it's time to perform some quality control on your design.