Database Reference
In-Depth Information
In this chapter, you will learn various ways to create and manage database applications. You
will also learn how to use these applications to access data and how to use these applications to
manage database objects on Windows Azure.
9.2 Database Application Design
A database application development process, in general, may include three phases including design,
development, and deployment. he descriptions of these phases are given below:
◾
Design
: he design phase starts with the requirement analysis. It investigates the needs and
constraints from a business process. he design phase also collects information about the IT
infrastructure used to support an application. On the basis of the result of the analysis, the
application designer will be able to identify the actions to be implemented in an application
and the GUIs for processing the data stored in a data source. After the actions and GUIs are
determined, the application designer will decide which platform the application will run on
and which tools will be used to create the application.
◾
Develop
: In this phase, the database application will be developed based on the speciica-
tions established in the design phase. Microsoft Visual Studio and SQL Server can be used
to create the programming units for implementing the actions and GUIs. he components
related to network communication will be added to the application. he remote data access
mechanisms will also be properly conigured in the development phase.
◾
Deploy
: In the deployment phase, the database application will irst be tested before it
can be deployed to front-end users. he programming units and GUIs should function
lawlessly. During the testing, the application developers need to make sure that the net-
work functionality and remote access all work properly. If there are errors, the applica-
tion developer and the database administrator should work together to ix the problems
before the application can be deployed to the public. Once the application is deployed, it
is necessary to provide training, instructional documents, and technical support for the
front-end users.
To further improve the application, it is necessary to get feedback from the users. he users'
feedback can then be used as a guideline for further improvement. he new version of the applica-
tion should address the users' feedback.
9.2.1 Application Design
To make database applications meet the requirements of a business process, our irst task is to
understand the business process. A good understanding of the business process often leads to good
database application designs.
he irst step to accomplish this task is to identify data entry and data updating activities in
the business process. For example, for class registration, we can identify the following data entry
and updating tasks:
◾
Students need to ill out the online class registration forms.
◾
he registration oice needs to update the students' class schedules.
◾
he students' grades need to be updated each semester.
