Database Management

With the exponential growth of data that a company gathers, database management has proven to be a key element to a successful business. This is the ability to store, retrieve, and manipulate data from a database.

A database management system consists of four main elements. The first is the data modeling language, which defines the schematics of a database. The most commonly used schema are the following:

• Hierarchical Model – Organized like a tree-like structure, there are distinct main elements and sub-elements.
• Network Model – A record which allows connections between the various main elements and sub-elements. A visual representation would be a lattice-like structure.
• Relational Model – An extremely flexible model in database management, where files are related by a common field.
• Object Model – The elements are represented as objects, which allow for better access and manipulation. This is used to create more dynamic content.

The second part of a database management system is Data Structures, which utilizes specific algorithms to enable easy storage and access of data. Another essential part in database management is the Query Language, this area is responsible for the administrative privileges. The final element is the Transaction Mechanism. This part controls the integrity of the data, such as prevention of duplicate entries.