Topic 4: Database Concepts II Flashcards
Attributes
Characteristics of entities.
Back-end Application Software
Software that is usually loaded onto the server to provide essential background services to clients.
Client
A computer that requests services from a server.
Client–server System
A computing model that is based on distributing functions between two types of independent and autonomous processes: servers and clients.
Communications Middleware
Software that holds different types of software that aid the transmission of data and control of information between the client and server.
Composite Key
A combination of more than one attribute to form one primary key. It indicates an M:N (many-to-many) relationship between the columns.
Controlled Redundancies
Redundancies that are allowed for the convenience of structuring data, data manipulation or reporting.
Entities
Representations of real-world things or objects that are involved in a process and correspond to a table in a relational database.
Field
A characteristic of a record that contains data that have a specific meaning.
Front-end Application Software
Software that is usually loaded onto the client computers as the means for the users to interact with the server as part of the client process.
Hardware
Physical devices including the computer and network.
Many-to-many Relationship (M:N)
A relationship between two entities in which the cardinality of both entities in the relationship is many.
Normalisation
A set of rules and a process of assigning attributes to entities to eliminate repeating groups and data redundancies, and to form tables representing entities that promote structural and data independence.
One-to-many Relationship (1:N)
A relationship between two entities in which the cardinality of one entity in the relationship is one and the other entity’s cardinality is many.
Partial Dependency
A dependency based on only part of a composite primary key.
