Database Reference
In-Depth Information
The term
database
is used in many different ways, but for our purposes a data-
base is a collection of data stored in some organized fashion. The simplest way
to think of it is to imagine a database as a filing cabinet. The filing cabinet is
simply a physical location to store data, regardless of what that data is or how it
is organized.
New Term
Database A container (usually a file or set of files) to store organized data.
Caution
Misuse Causes Confusion People often use the term
database
to refer to the data-
base software they are running. This is incorrect, and it is a source of much confusion.
Database software is actually called the
Database Management System
(or DBMS). The
database is the container created and manipulated via the DBMS. A database might
be a file stored on a hard drive, but it might not. And for the most part this is not even
significant as you never access a database directly anyway; you always use the DBMS,
and it accesses the database for you.
When you store information in your filing cabinet you don't just toss it in a
drawer. Rather, you create files within the filing cabinet, and then you file
related data in specific files.
In the database world, that file is called a table. A table is a structured file that
can store data of a specific type. A table might contain a list of customers, a
product catalog, or any other list of information.
New Term
Table A structured list of data of a specific type.
The key here is that the data stored in the table is one type of data or one
list. You would never store a list of customers and a list of orders in the same
database table. Doing so would make subsequent retrieval and access difficult.
Rather, you'd create two tables, one for each list.
Every table in a database has a name that identifies it. That name is always
unique—meaning no other table in that database can have the same name.
