Today’s lecture opened the topic of structured data with an introduction to Entity-Relationship Modelling and the graphical language of ER diagrams. This language is important for planning and structuring databases, bridging the gap between informal conceptual design and the logical precision required for machine implementation.

As usual you can download the lecture slides at the link below, or by clicking on the thumbnail picture of the title slide above. You can also pick up a printed copy from outside the ITO.

There’s also an audio and screen recording taken during the lecture: please let me know if you have any playback difficulties with this.

Links: Slides for Lecture 2; Recording

Homework

1. Read This

Sections 2.1–2.4 of this textbook on databases:

R. Ramakrishnan and J. Gehrke. Database Management Systems. Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2003.

I have sent all students a PDF for the whole of Chapter 2 through the course mailing list; I distributed some paper copies in the lecture; and you can also pick these up outside the ITO.

2. Do This

Step inside the library, locate the HUB and find this book. Have a look at the other textbooks there, too, and compare style and content.

Extra

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 in Microsoft’s “Research Luminaries” series; Copy on Youtube.