Friday’s lecture started on the basics of Entity-Relationship Modelling and in particular the graphical language of ER diagrams. This plays an important role in planning and structuring databases, bridging the gap between informal conceptual design and the logical precision required for machine implementation.
Link: Slides for Lecture 2
Homework
Read This
Sections 2.1–2.4 of the handout, distributed by email on Friday. If you don’t have a copy then pick one up from the cubbyholes outside the ITO. The handout is Chapter 2 from this book:
R. Ramakrishnan and J. Gehrke. Database Management Systems. Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2003.
Do This
Step inside the library, locate the HUB (High User Books) section, and find this book. How many copies are there? Hardback or paperback?
Extras
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Watch this interview with Jeanette Wing. It’s around 30min long and easy to take in. Professor Wing talks to Microsoft’s Channel 9 about her research and ideas about computational thinking.
Links: Video on Youtube; Original in Microsoft’s “Research Luminaries” series
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Look online for material on ER modelling and diagrams: tutorials, introductions, anything. If you find something you think looks helpful and straightforward to follow then post about it — on Piazza, here as a comment, or on the Facebook group.