Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 22:29:04 GMT Server: Apache/1.0.3 Content-type: text/html Content-length: 11069 Last-modified: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 14:48:55 GMT C646 Course Information

C646: Database Design Theory

Contents

General Information

Instructor
Dirk Van Gucht
vgucht@cs.indiana.edu
LH 401B (855-6429),
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:00am-11:00am, Wednesday 2:00pm-3:00pm

Lecture
Section 2044, MW 11:15am-12:30pm, in WH 106
Local newsgroup
ac.c.646

Course Description

This course will cover several central topics in the area of databases. These include database modeling; theory, design and implementation of query languages; post-relational database systems; and theory of transactions management.

It is strongly recommended that you have had a course which covers the principles of database systems. Furthermore, programming experience with C++ is expected.

Programming assignments will involve Sybase (a relational database management system), Coral (a deductive database programming language), Postgres (an object-relational database management system), and Exodus or Shore (an object-oriented storage manager). If time permits, we will also use ODE (an object-oriented database management system). Information about these systems is maintained in the Database Group homepage at http://www.cs.indiana.edu/database/DBLab.html#systems. These database systems are maintained in the database laboratory (LH 401A) by the database lab systems assistant Sudhir Rao (srao@center). Please contact Sudhir about technical issues related to these systems.

List of Topics

Textbooks

Additional Readings

In addition, the following journals are good sources for additional reading: ACM Transactions on Database Systems, IEEE Transactions on Data and Knowledge Engineering and ACM SIGMOD Record. Finally, the proceedings of the ACM SIGMOD Int'l Conference on Management of Data, the ACM SIGACT-SIGMOD-SIGART Symposium on Principles of Database Systems, and the Int'l Conference of Very Large Databases offer papers of the most recent research in databases. (These journals and proceedings are available at Swain Library.)

Required Readings From Textbooks

The course lectures will come mostly from material in the three textbooks. The chapters of these textbooks which are crucial to this course are given below. I will try to make it clear what readings correspond to a given week's lecture. Specific material from other interesting reading materials may also be assigned during the semester.

Assignments

The details of the assignments will be covered in the lecture. You are encouraged to discuss the fundamental issues of each assignment with your classmates, but we expect the work you actually hand in to be your own.

As the assignments are given, the hypertext version of this course description will be updated to contain links to the assignment description.

Communication

The course newsgroup, ac.c.646, will be used to post announcements, such as assignments, exams, and any exceptions to my usual office hours. You are also encouraged to use it to post questions related to the course or share related information with the class. Make a habit of looking for new notes a few times each week.

This course description is accessible as an HTML (hypertext markup language) file on the WWW (World Wide Web) by accessing the Computer Science Department's home page (http://www.cs.indiana.edu/) and following the link for C646. It will be updated with additional information, such as programming assignments, as the course progresses.

Tasks and Grade Distribution

Policies

Academic Integrity

Read the Computer Science Department's Statement on Academic Integrity to be sure you understand the rules under which computer science courses operate. Cases of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office of Student Ethics, a branch of the Office of the Dean of Students.

Withdrawal

Wednesday, October 25, is the last day (until 4 p.m.) to drop a course or withdraw from all courses with an automatic `W'. After that date, a student may withdraw only with the permission of his or her dean. This approval is normally only for urgent reasons related to extended illness or equivalent distress.

Wednesday, November 29, is the last day for deans to approve a course drop.

Incomplete grade

An incomplete (`I') final grade will be given only by prior arrangement in exceptional circumstances conforming to university and departmental policy which requires, among other things, that the student must have completed the bulk of the work required for the course with a passing grade, and that the remaining work can be made up within 30 days after the end of the semester.