Chapter 1
System Development Overview
IN THIS CHAPTER
The components of any database system
The System Development Life Cycle
SQL is the international standard language used by practically everybody to communicate with relational databases. This book is about SQL, but in order for you to truly understand SQL, it must be placed in the proper context — in the world of relational databases. In this minibook, I cover the ground necessary to prepare you to exercise the full power of SQL.
Databases don’t exist in isolation. They are part of a system designed to perform some needed function. To create a useful and reliable database system, you must be aware of all the parts of the system and how they work together. You must also follow a disciplined approach to system development if you’re to have any hope at all of delivering an effective and reliable product on time and on budget. In this chapter, I lay out the component parts of such a system, and then break down the steps you must go through to successfully complete a database system development project.
The Components of a Database System
A database containing absolutely critical information would not be of much use if there was no way to operate on the data or retrieve the particular information that you wanted. That’s why several ...
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