Databases & Software Engineering

This course provides an introduction to databases technologies, as well as a comprehensive overview of the principles and practices of software engineering. It also introduces the software development life cycle and various development methodologies.

Databases Topics:

- Overview of Database Concepts, Models, and Architectures
Introduces the purpose and structure of databases, covering the evolution from file based systems to modern database technologies. It includes an overview of relational databases where data is organized using tables, keys, and relationships to ensure data integrity and consistency. It also provides a brief introduction to non relational databases, which offer flexible data models suitable for specific needs like scalability or complex relationships. Additionally, it outlines the common architectural setups used in database systems and briefly introduces the key languages used to interact with databases.

- The Relational Model and Database Design Theory
Covers the formal structure of relational databases, including relations, attributes, tuples, primary and foreign keys, and integrity constraints. Emphasis is placed on conceptual schema design using Entity Relationship (ER) modeling and the process that follows, translating the conceptual schema into a logical relational schema suitable for implementation.

- Database Normalization
Focuses on organizing data in relational tables to eliminate redundancy and prevent anomalies. Includes normal forms, how to identify repeating groups or functional dependencies, and how to apply normalization techniques to improve data consistency and maintainability.

- Structured Query Language (SQL)
Introduces the core language used to interact with relational databases. Topics include defining schema structures (CREATE, ALTER), enforcing constraints (PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY), modifying data (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE), and querying. Also includes the use of joins, aggregate functions, and filtering in order to retrieve and manipulate data effectively.

Software Engineering Topics:

- Introduction to Software Engineering

• Definition and importance of software engineering

• Overview of the software development life cycle (SDLC)

• Software engineering methodologies (Waterfall, Agile, Scrum)

- Requirements Engineering

• Requirements elicitation techniques

• Requirements specification and documentation

• Requirements validation and management

- Software Construction

• Explain and apply coding standards

• Best practices for software solutions