Think about a database that includes customer information. Records can be added, deleted, and modified, and when a change is made to a record, it shows up everywhere that record is being referenced. These two facts are what make a relational database capable of representing the relationships between different people, objects, and ideas. Because every record is uniquely identifiable, you can avoid duplicate data, and just reference that single unique record whenever you want to get data on a specific subject.
Nerd alert: the technical term for a table in a relational database is "relation." In 1970, while working for IBM, Dr. Each table is a data set composed of records and fields, and represents a single subject. Tables are the main building blocks of relational databases.
Look inside a database, and the first thing you’ll find is at least one table. A good working knowledge of databases will help in all these cases.Ī database is the container for all your data.
Maybe you’ve been tasked with pulling information into a company system via an API or designing a relational database management system (RDBMS) for your company. Perhaps you’re building a simple record-keeping system that will help eliminate mistakes, or diving into a big-data project for a large team.
#IDATABASE RELATIONAL HOW TO#
Once you understand the components of relational databases, you can begin to envision how to construct and use them for your particular needs. Those who know query languages can still use them to work with database information.īut now, you don’t need to know SQL or any other language to be able to use a database well. Query languages are still around (developers made more, like open-source mysql).
Because of this, relational databases offer vast flexibility in terms of what you can do with information.ĭatabases were once mainly used by developers, who pulled information out of them with a programming language, SQL, for Structured Query Language. However, unlike spreadsheets, which were originally developed to function like accounting worksheets for financial calculations, relational databases were specifically designed to make data storage reliable and scalable. You might be familiar with traditional spreadsheets, which also store data in tables. Relational databases, which store data in structured tables, are one of the most popular and easy-to-use types of databases. These are the basic building blocks of any relational database, whether for a simple use case or to run your entire business.Ī relational database is a collection of data logically organized so the information can be easily edited, added to, deleted, and most importantly, accessed. The quickest path to understanding relational databases and how you can best use them is to dissect a database into its specific components.