What is a Database? A Beginner's Guide

Almost everyone who has surfed the internet has heard about databases. But very few know what they really are.

So, what are databases?

A database is an organized collection of information that can be easily accessed and managed. They are essential in our tech-driven world — they store valuable information required for our technology.

Let's explore the concept of databases further and see why they're so important. But before learning about databases, let's learn what data is.

What is Data?

Data is any piece of fact or information, such as your name, the capital of a country, the color of a flower, or just about anything you can imagine.

We can store data in many forms — as records on a piece of paper or in electronic formats such as strings, numbers, pictures, audio, or video.

Databases deal with data that are stored in electronic format.

What is a Database?

As stated before, a database is an organized collection of structured information (data) stored electronically. The data is usually modeled in tables, which makes it easier to process and analyze the information.

Data may also be stored in other formats, such as a series of files or in a hierarchy of file directories. However, the tabular format for storing data is more popular.

Such databases usually consist of multiple tables of related data. For instance: an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell goods.

The database of such a site will often have separate tables that store information on customers, orders, shipping, and more. Some of those tables might look something like this:

Table Name: Customers

Table Name: Orders

The first table stores customer information, while the second table stores order information. If you notice, the data in these tables are related — both tables have a 'customer_id' column.

The databases that consist of related tables are called relational databases.

How Do We Manage Databases?

We need efficient software systems in order to store, retrieve, and analyze data properly. Such software is called a Database Management System (DBMS) or Database Software.

We can create, edit, update, and maintain database files and records using a DBMS. These tasks are performed using a query language, a type of programming language. The most popular query language today is Structured Query Language (SQL).

Thus, the software - combined with a query language - acts as an interface between the user and the database, making data handling much easier.

Additionally, database software provide basic data security since data is a valuable digital resource.

MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MongoDB, etc., are some popular Database Management Systems.

What Are Databases Used For?

Databases are used in most major industries today. Some of their major uses include:

• Websites and Web Apps: All websites and web apps utilize databases to store user information like name and password, website content like text and images, and user data like photos, videos, posts, etc.
• Businesses: Databases are crucial for storing information about customers, inventory, orders, revenue, etc. These are vital for the survival and growth of businesses.
• Scientific Research: Modern scientific research demands collaboration between individual researchers and research teams. So scientists require huge databases to access each others' data and research.
• Educational Institutions: Schools, colleges, and universities use databases to store student and employee records, enrollment and revenue statistics, scientific research funding records, library records, etc. All of this requires extensive use of databases.
• Governments: They maintain some of the largest databases to store all sorts of information on their citizens, businesses, finances, administration, and law enforcement.

What Are the Different Types of Databases?

Databases can be classified into different types based on how they organize and structure data.

Relational and Non-relational databases are the two most used database types. There are other kinds of databases, too, like Object-Oriented databases, Hierarchical databases, Time-series databases, and Spatial databases, to name a few.

If you want details about these, visit our dedicated blog about the different types of databases.  

What Are the Components of a Database?

We've seen that databases come in different forms and organizational structures. But almost all databases have five common components:

• Hardware: This includes the physical devices on which the database is stored, like hard drives, local computers, servers, etc.
  
• Software: This refers to the Database Software or DBMS we use to store and organize the data. Software also includes the operating systems running the database software and the network software used to share the data.
  
• Data: This is the raw information that the database stores. Data can come in multiple formats: numbers, texts, special characters, images, etc., which has little meaning itself. It is on us to organize the data in a meaningful way.
  
• Data Access Language: This is the query language we use with the DBMS to store, retrieve, and organize data. SQL is one of the most popular data access languages today.
  
• Procedures: These are rules and instructions that determine how the database works and handles data.

What Are the Advantages Of Using a Database?

Using a well-managed database can provide benefits like:

• Organized and structured storage of large sets of data.
• Fast and efficient retrieval of data.
• Allows us to add, update, and delete data as needed.
• Makes it easy to search for specific data or data with specific constraints.
• Allows for multiple methods to sort the data.
• Allows us to group data sets according to different categories and requirements.
• Facilitates effective and specialized analysis of data sets.
• Provides data security and integrity by limiting user access.

What Are the Challenges of Managing Databases?

While databases are powerful tools that offer many benefits, they can also be difficult to manage. Some of the biggest challenges in working with databases are:

• Expenses: Database maintenance is costly due to the sophisticated hardware and software required to host them.
  
• Data Security: While we can restrict access to data using DBMS, we still need skilled cybersecurity professionals to ensure that our data is safe from theft and attacks.
  
• Data Integrity: The data in a database must be accurate and trustworthy. This requires us to ensure data security and keep multiple backups of our database to protect against cyberattacks, data corruption, or hardware failure.
  
• Complexity: Most databases and DBMSs are complex systems and using them requires proper training and experience. Also, the difficulty of performing sophisticated operations increases with the complexity of the database.
  
• Maintenance: Databases need to be tuned and updated regularly. This includes removing obsolete data and maintaining and upgrading hardware and software. Database software and hardware can become obsolete and inefficient quickly due to ever-improving technology.
  
• Database Integration: Applications need to include some data (or even entire databases) from different sources. This is challenging as these databases often have different structures and architectures.
  
• Simultaneous Use: Data can be lost if multiple users are using the same database software simultaneously. This can happen if changes made by one user are unknowingly undone by another or if the changes made by users are not saved to the database due to internal errors.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What do you mean by Database Query Language?

A Database Query Language is a computer language used to submit queries to databases. These queries are requests to add, retrieve, and manipulate data. The Structured Query Language (SQL) is one of the most popular database query languages.

2. What is Database Software?

Database software is another name for Database Management System (DBMS).

3. What is the difference between a database and a spreadsheet?

While both databases and spreadsheets are popular methods of storing data, they are not the same. Their main differences are: