Cloud Database Development — The Basics - Beginning iOS Cloud and Database Development - page 3

We discuss database development, but more specifically we'll be talking about how that
development is best worked into an online and data-driven application. When I talk about
applications in this topic, I will be primarily speaking of mobile applications. That's not to say that
you couldn't develop a desktop or web application to access the database, it's just not something
I will be covering in this topic.
Database Platforms and Services
I spoke earlier of data management platforms used with businesses. There is a variety of these
database management system (DBMS) companies that are available for businesses to work
with, including SAP, Oracle, MySQL, and Apple. These management systems need to be defined
differently from what resides on the actual databases. Data that is managed is always referred to as
“actual data.” Many of these companies have very different ways of managing their online database,
comprising the “services” part of the DBMSs.
Within a database, raw data alone is not useful. Suppose we did a market research study where
we interviewed 50 employees and asked each a series of 25 questions. Once each person has
answered the questions, you want to compare the results. Say you want to find all the employees
who have become dissatisfied about certain issues. How would you know how to make this
comparison?
You have to ask yourself how important each piece of data is before putting filters in the database
to decipher it. This helps us structure conclusions based on that data. Some information captured
and imported into the database is going to be more important than other information. Not only do
you need to decide which pieces of data are included, but also which pieces that are included are
the most important, and then structure filters and hierarchies accordingly. This is the key to database
management.
With iCloud, the data within your document exists in iCloud until you explicitly request that it be
downloaded. Then, once the file is downloaded, iCloud propagates any changes to the document
down to your device. This function is another great benefit of iCloud. It is handled this way in order
to conserve the storage space on your mobile device. So when you edit a document on your device,
the document service only pulls down the individual file that is needed for editing, leaving the rest
of it on the server. The application is still aware of these other files because of the metadata that
is being persisted across devices. This makes iCloud an efficient data management platform that
happens to be perfect for mobile devices, which tend to not have as much storage space as a
general computer.
In many ways, iCloud extends beyond what is normally considered a data management platform.
Not only does iCloud have a cloud server similar to some of the data management platforms listed
previously, but it can update documents other ways as well, such as peer-to-peer.
Characters and Fields
Characters are the basic element of data for the purpose of this topic. Non-textual data is also
considered data but not in the way I will be describing. For purposes of this topic, we will be
discussing only textual data. Those characters are the building blocks of the field, which are the
building blocks of the record and the table.