AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate Study Guide

Chapter 2. Prerequisite Knowledge for Aspiring Data Engineers

Before being introduced to AWS services, you need to have some prerequisite knowledge on data engineering concepts. This chapter briefly covers the foundational knowledge related to databases, data lakes, data ingestion, data processing, data consumption, working with code repositories, and AWS Cloud that you’re going to need before you begin preparing for AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate certification.

Databases and Types of Databases

Most applications require persistent storage of their data and an efficient way to query it. The data can be stored in different formats depending on use case, but for most use cases, storing in databases is one of the best solutions for persistent storage (if the data is available in structured or semi-structured format). Let’s understand what a database is, and the different types of databases that you can consider while designing your application.

What Is a Database?

A database is a collection of data that can help represent an entity as a table or view having a fixed or flexible set of attributes stored electronically for easier access and management. It provides better performance compared to storing data in files and reading from them.

What Is a Database Management System?

The software system that integrates database features such as create, insert, update, and delete is called a database management system (DBMS). It acts as an interface between the database and the end ...