Joe's CSUMB Computer Science Blog

Briefly summarize what you consider to be the three (3) most important things you learned in this course.     I believe that learning SQL was one of the most important things I learned in this class. Knowing SQL provides someone the ability to work directly with a  relational database in the MySQL work bench or to work with applications that access a relational database. In this class, I gained experience in both, through labs and homework assignments.     I also think that learning about MongoDB was also very important. The last lab showed the importance of MongoDB in instances where a flexible database schema is needed. The knowledge of both MongoDB and SQL are helpful tools in becoming a successful positions that require backend development or data analysis     Lastly I believe that learning about the design process of a database will be helpful moving forward. I can take what I have learned about design processes and improve my final project from m...

Compare MongoDB with MySQL.  MongoDB is a Non relational database and MySQL is a relational database. What are some similarities?  MongoDB and MySQL allow for database administrators to store and update data. Both languages are capable in their own ways of creating entities with attributes. They are also capable of querying and filtering data. What are some differences?  The way data is stored varies between both. In MongoDB, data is stored as binary encoded JSON documents. MongoDB allows for these documents to store nested documents, which allows multiple values to be stored under one field type. In MySQL, data is stored in tables with columns as rows. This database structure only allows for one value to be stored per table cell. Additionally, another difference between MongoDB and MySQL is the syntax of their query languages. When would you choose one over the other?  At the moment I have a better understanding of SQL than the MongoDB query language. Because of thi...

I spent most of this week working on the pharmacy prescription database for lab 19. During this lab I learned about the different ways SQL is used with other applications. For this lab we got hands-on experience with using the JDBC api to connect withMySQL. I learned about the relationship between drivers and connections and also learned how to prepare SQL statements in Java. This lab introduced me to Spring, which I have never used before, for building this application. I also got to learn how to implement triggers in MySQL. A trigger was a part of the prescription database ERD I created last week, but I had to learn how to write code for it (with the help of my groupmates) this week for its implementation.

     I spent most of my school time this week designing the prescription database for lab 18. I initially intended for each entity to contain all of the information that was requested on each registration form. I then realized that much of the information on the forms was redundant and every line did not need to be an attribute for that entity. For example, new prescription forms ask for a patient's name. To adhere to normal form, a patient's attributes would only need to be recorded on the patient table.       After this I spent some time figuring out how I could count the number of fills per prescription. One way I found in my research for this problem was to create a trigger before inserts. If this ends up not working as I hope, I will try to count records using another approach.   If indexes are supposed to speed up performance of query,  what does the author mean by a slow index?        The index itself is not slow. O...

Briefly summarize 5 things that you have learned in the course so far.   One of the first things I learned in this course are the differences in tracking records with an SQL database versus an Excel spreadsheet. A spreadsheet may be sufficient to fulfill the needs for small tables that are managed by few people, but larger projects should be handled by a database system. Some of the benefits of using a database system are improved performance and the implementation of rules to govern the database. I have also learned about the logical design process for a database. The text highlights the importance of creating an entity-relationship model before working in SQL. Following the logical design process allows an administrator to determine when it is necessary to create tables and how to structure relations between entities. Labs 12 and 14 have helped me better understand indexes on columns within tables. These labs also provided good visual diagrams to show how rows are referenced...