Corso di laurea in Informatica

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course, students should know:

• the mathematical foundations of the relational model,
• the languages used to express queries in relational algebra, relational calculus and SQL,
• the foundations of the theory of normalization,
• the usage of transactions and the theory behind it,
• the data structures used to efficiently record information.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• analyze the requirements for the design of a database,
• represent the requirements through ER schemes,
• transform ER schemes into relational schemes,
• transform natural-language queries into SQL queries,
• restructuring simple ER schemes based on quantitative data.

INDEPENDENT JUDGEMENT

At the end of the course, students will know how to:

• design a small database, carrying out an autonomous analysis of its requirements and using them to define the conceptual, logical and physical schemes,
• motivate and explain the choices they made to design a small database.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• present, both in written and in oral form, a technical report aimed at explaining and motivating the choices they made to design a small database.

LEARNING SKILLS
At the end of the course, students will have acquired the skills to study independently and self-assess their knowledge, so that they will be able to continue to higher leves of education with a high degree of autonomy.

Theoretical foundations of relational databases (5 ECTS, 40 hours):

• Introduction to information systems and databases
• The relational model
• Relational algebra and design of algebraic expressions
• Introduction to the relational calculus,
• Introduction to transactions
• Redundancies and anomalies, functional dependencies and the theory of normalization
• Introduction to DBMS architetures: data storage, concurrency, reliability

Database design and SQL laboratory (4 ECTS, 40 hours)

• Database design laboratory:
  1. Design methodologies
  2. The Entity-Relationship data model
  3. Conceptual data model design
  4. Logical data model desing
  5. Physical data model design
• SQL laboratory in PostgreSQL
  1. The SQL language and standards
  2. Data definition in SQL (DDL)
  3. Data manipulation in SQL (DML)
  4. Queries in SQL (DML/DQL) and design of SQL expression

Attendance is optional, but suggested. The same method will be adopted to test the knowledge and skills acquired by both attenders and non-attenders.

Students are required to enroll to the course on the Moodle e-learning environment: here, they will find a discussion forum, course material and practice assignments. The exam consists of a written test and an oral discussion. The discussion concerns the laboratory project, which can be carried out either individually or in small groups.

Written exam

To sit the written exam, students must have handed in their reports on the laboratory project. The written exam consists of six to eight questions, aimed at testing students' knowledge of the fundamental concepts covered during the course. Two or three questions concern SQL, while the remaining ones concern theory topics. Grades will be expressed on a 30-point scale. If at least one member of a group of students who carried out the laboratory project together passes the written exam, all the group members are required to discuss the laboratory project during the current exam session. If a student does not pass the oral exam, the written exam must be repeated. Each student is entitled to at most three corrections of their written exam in an academic year. The mark of the written exam is valid only for the exam session when it was obtain.

Oral exam (laboratory project discussion)

Students are assigned a database design project, which they can carry out either individually or in small groups consisting of two or three members. Students discuss their laboratory project individually; however, all group members are required to sit the oral exam on the same date. The discussion can concern any aspect of the laboratory project and is graded on a 30-point scale. Notice that students' knowledge of SQL will be assessed as part of the written exam.

Final grade

The final grade will be computed as a weighted average between the grades obtained in the two exams (written exam weight: 70%, oral exam weight: 30%). All grades will be expressed on a 30-point scale, and students are required to pass both exams (minimum pass grade: 18/30).