Database Basics
By Mike Chapple, About.com Guide to Databases
Databases offer a convienient and powerful way to organize your information. In Database Basics, you'll learn how to get started in the world of databases, normalize your database according to commonly accepted design principles, add security to your database and use database keys and transactions.
Getting Started
The world of databases can be confusing to a newcomer. In this section, you'll learn about database terminology, explore various database software options and begin down the path of selecting a database appropriate for your business needs.
- Top 5 Things Beginners Need to Know About Databases
- What is a Database?
- Databases for Beginners
- Database Software Options
Normalizing Databases
If you've been working with databases for a while, chances are you've heard the term normalization. Perhaps someone's asked you "Is that database normalized?" or "Is that in BCNF?" All too often, the reply is "Uh, yeah." Normalization is often brushed aside as a luxury that only academics have time for. However, knowing the principles of normalization and applying them to your daily database design tasks really isn't all that complicated and it could drastically improve the performance of your DBMS.
- Database Normalization Basics
- Normalizing Your Database: First Normal Form
- Normalizing Your Database: Second Normal Form
- Normalizing Your Database: Third Normal Form
Securing Databases
Database security mechanisms protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your organization's most sensitive data. In this section, you'll learn about practical techniques used to secure enterprise and desktop databases.
- Inference Attacks on Databases
- SQL Injection Attacks on Databases
- Access Controls in SQL
- HIPAA Compliance (Privacy and Security)
Keys and Transactions
As you may already know, databases use tables to organize information. Each table consists of a number of rows, each of which corresponds to a single database record. So, how do databases keep all of these records straight? It’s through the use of keys.
