Database

A database is a set or collection of interrelated data which are stored in retrievable and controllable form. The collection represents static information of a group of associative data which collectively makes sense. In this way, the information can be retrieved and stored quickly with ease using databases.

Databases are managed and created as files. Files are the unit of storage in a computer. Whenever data is managed it is important that the relations governing the meaningful data groups are simple to manipulate and define. Each individual data can be shared between various users. Different users can access the similar data for different purpose.

The following table illustrates this:

                                            Table 1.1 Customer, Product and Orders Files

In the above table, a relationship among the Customer No. within Customer file and the Customer No. within Orders file has to be building so that the validity of the customer is maintained. Similarly, for the similar customer, the product which has been ordered has to be related to the product file. Therefore, the database differs depending on how it is organized.