CST363: Week 4 (Week 20)

CST 363 at the half way mark... 

Five things I've learned:

1. I've learned a little bit about the programmatical underpinnings of databases. Up through Lab 14, using Java to represent data and perform database-like operations has been helpful in getting an idea of what is happening behind the scenes in a database.
2. I have a much better understanding of why SQL for example, is a relational database. Designs that link and overlap data make sense especially when it comes to preventing data duplication.
3. Following from number two, normalization was a good lesson in de-duplication and storage efficiency. We learned a bit about how just-in-time operations and binding related data across the database can prevent inconsistencies that might spring up after data is changed. The problem is reminiscent of cache coherency and stale data in operating systems.
4. We learned how indexes are a strategy to speed up database transactions. Where as the underlying data in a database may be vast and would take time to access some data directly, having sorted indexes as a fast, organized intermediary for lookup operations makes absolute sense intuitively and our lab 14 helped demonstrate what this looks like.
5. Though I am still confused at times, we've learned how to create database ER diagrams that help us visualize what we are implementing and can be used to to generate schema. I can image that in many cases it would probably be easier to show someone an ER diagram rather than handing them the schema definition or trying to explain the database to them verbally.

Three questions I have:

1. I don't know anything about multimedia storage and pattern recognition systems. I wonder about the nature of the databases those systems use for fast lookup. For example, what type of data storage and retrieval mechanisms do apps like Google Lens or Shazam use?
2. How have databases affected storage technologies? Have file system implementations been developed with databases in mind? How about storage firmware/hardware?
3. I want to learn more about databases deployed on embedded devices and edge computer systems. I imagine that there are specific differences to help them perform with limited processing power and storage capacity.