ECS 165A Winter 2011 - Introduction to Database Systems

Instructor:
Prof. Todd J. Green
green at cs dot ucdavis dot edu
Office Hours: T, 1:30-3:00pm, 3055 Kemper Hall
Teaching Assistant #1:
Chengyi Bao
cbao at ucdavis dot edu
Office Hours: Th, 9:00-10:00am, 55 Kemper Hall
Teaching Assistant #2:
Steven Crites
sbcrites at ucdavis dot edu
Office Hours: Th 3:30-4:30pm, 55 Kemper Hall

Meeting times

Class mailing list

The address is ecs165a-w11@ucdavis.edu. All students enrolled in the class are automatically subscribed. To post a message you must send it from your ucdavis email account.

Textbook and resources

Catalog description

Database design, entity-relationship and relational model, relational algebra, query language SQL, storage and file structures, query processing, and transaction management.

ECS 165A focuses on databases from the user's and application developer's perspectives. The followup course, ECS 165B, focuses on databases from the implementation perspective.

Lectures and class schedule (subject to revision!)

Week Date Topic Reading
1 Mon. 1/3 Course overview and logistics; 1. Introduction to relational databases (1-intro.pdf) Ch. 1 and 4 (skip 4.7-4.10)
Wed. 1/5 2. Database design and the ER model (2-er.pdf)
Fri. 1/7 2. Database design and the ER model (cont'd)
Assignment #1 out
2 Mon. 1/10 3. Relational model and relational algebra (3-ra.pdf) Ch. 2
Wed. 1/12 3. Relational model and relational algebra, cont'd
Fri. 1/14 3. Relational model and relational algebra, cont'd
Assignment #1 due @ beginning of class
3 Mon. 1/17 No class (Martin Luther King Day) Ch. 6
Wed. 1/19 4. SQL (4-sql.pdf)
Fri. 1/21 4. SQL, cont'd
4 Mon. 1/24 4. SQL, cont'd;
Assignment #2 out
Ch. 6
Wed. 1/26 4. SQL, cont'd
Fri. 1/28 5. Integrity constraints (5-constraints.pdf)
5 Mon. 1/31 5. Integrity constraints, cont'd;
Assignment #2 due @ beginning of class
Ch. 7
Wed. 2/2 5. Integrity constraints, cont'd
Fri. 2/4 5 1/2. Design Theory for Relational Databases
(5-fds.pdf | 5-fds.pptx )
6 Mon. 2/7 5 1/2. Design Theory for Relational Databases, cont'd Ch. 3
Wed. 2/9 Midterm topics;
6. Storage and file organization (6-storage.pdf);
Assignment #3 out
Fri. 2/11 MIDTERM EXAM
7 Mon. 2/14 6. Storage and file organization, cont'd (6-storage-2.pdf) Ch. 13; 8.3-8.4; 14.1-14.3
Wed. 2/16 7. Indexing (7-indexes.pdf)
Assignment #3 due @ 11:59pm
Fri. 2/18 7. Indexing, cont'd;
8. Query Processing (8-query.pdf)
8 Mon. 2/21 No class (President's Day) Ch. 8.3-8.4; 14.1-14.3
Wed. 2/23 8. Query processing, cont'd
Fri. 2/25 8. Query processing, cont'd;
Assignment #4 out
9 Mon. 2/28 8. Query processing, cont'd;
8 1/2. Database connection libraries (cli-jdbc-php.pdf)
Ch. 15; Ch. 9
Wed. 3/2 8 1/2. Database connection libraries, cont'd
Fri. 3/4 9. Transaction management (9-transactions.pdf);
Assignment #4 due @ beginning of class
10 Mon. 3/7 10. Datalog and recursive queries (Ullman slides, pt 1);
Assignment #5 out
Ch. 5.3-5.4
Wed. 3/9 10. Datalog and recursive queries, cont'd (Ullman slides, pt 2)
Fri. 3/11 Review session, part 1 (datalog-practice.pdf);
course evaluations
11 Mon. 3/14 Review session, part 2 (final-topics.pdf);
Assignment #5 due @ 11:59pm
None
Wed. 3/16 Final exam @ 10:30am

Grading and course policies

Up-to-date grades are posted here.

Grading formula

Homework and project assignments (40%), midterm (20%), final (40%). Must receive passing grade on midterm and final to pass the class. Assignments and exams are graded on a curve.

Late policy

Except in the most extreme situations, late assignments will not be accepted. If you cannot complete an assignment by the due date, please hand in whatever you have done in order to receive partial credit.

We realize that most of you have demanding schedules and some of you must work to support yourselves. However, please do not ask us to accept either of these as excuses for late assignments or diminished performance. Also, make sure that you hand in complete solutions, that everything can be read clearly, etc. We are not responsible for pages that have been printed incorrectly.

Regrading

In general, assignments and exams to be considered for regrading must be turned in no later than one week after the graded assignments/exams were made available, not from when the student picked up her or his assignment. See the TA for regrading of assignments; see the instructor for regrading of exams. The final exam will be considered for regrading until one day before the final grade has to be submitted to the Office of the Registrar. Similarly, any misrecorded grades must be reported within a week of their posting, except if announced differently at the end of the quarter.

Missed exams

Make-up or early exams will not be given except in the most extreme situations. If you must miss an exam due to extreme illness, etc., please contact the instructor or leave a message including your phone number in the Computer Science office (752-7004) before the exam.

Cheating and plagiarism

All assignments and exams are to be individual and original efforts. Any instance of suspected cheating or plagiarism (e.g., collaboration, copying on exams, taking solutions from the recycling bins) will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs for adjudication. The Code of Academic Conduct describes relevant policies and procedures. Ask the instructor for clarification beforehand if the above rules are not clear.