CSE 414: Syllabus
- Course Goals
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- Databases are at the heart of modern
commercial application development. Their use extends beyond this to
many other environments and domains where large amounts of data must
be stored for efficient update, retrieval, and analysis. The purpose of this
course is to provide a comprehensive introduction to the use of
management systems for applications. Some of the topics covered are the following: data models (relational and XML), query languages (SQL, datalog, XQuery), transactions, parallel data processing, and database as a service. For the detailed list of topics and schedule, please see the course calendar.
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- Course Format
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- The class meets three times a week for lectures. We will follow parts of the textbook (see
below). While the lectures are designed to be clear and self-contained, and
to cover all the material used in class, you are strongly
encouraged to read from the textbook, both in order to get a better
understanding of the material covered and to learn about related
topics, which are not covered in class. Please note that the lectures will be a combination of whiteboard, powerpoint, and live demos. Lecture notes will be made available online, but they are brief and insufficient to learn the material. The lesson is: do not miss classes, and do take notes.
In addition to the lecture there will be sections taught by the TAs. The sections will discuss the material taught in class, will give detailed instructions on how to use some of the software needed for the homework assignments, and will give you
an extra opportunity to ask questions.
There will be several homework
assignments, involving light programming, several Webquizes on Gradiance, and two exams (midterm and final).
- Lectures and Sections
- Please see lecture list for lecture and section list for sections. (These summarize information that is included in the main calendar.)
- Homework assignments
- Please see the homework list or the main calendar. The late days policy is described below.
- Gradiance Webquizes
- There will be several Webquize assignments, administered through Gradiance. Please go to the Gradiance homepage, sign up, then use the class token that was given during the first lecture. No late days are allowed for Webquizzes.
- Exams
- There will be a midterm and a final. Please see the course schedule for dates and locations.
- Grading
- Homeworks: 30%
- Webquizes: 20%
- Midterm: 20%
- Final: 30%
- Main Textbook
- Database Systems: the Complete Handbook, by Hector
Garcia-Molina,
Jennifer Widom,
and Jeffrey Ullman. Available from the University Bookstore. Second edition.
- Other texts:
- The library has the following that you might find useful if you
require another explanation of a topic.
- Fundamentals of database systems by Elsmasri and
Navathe.
- Database management systems by Raghu
Ramakrishnan
and Johannes Gehrke.
- Foundations of database systems by Abiteboul,
Hull
and Vianu.
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- Late Policy
- Homework assignments: you are allowed a total of 4 late-days with at most 2 late-days per assignment that you can use in 24-hour chunks at anytime. Once you use-up your late days, no additional extensions are granted for any reason!
- Think of late days as a safety net in case of a true emergency, not as a convenience. Normally, you should use no late days during the entire quarter; if you do have an emergency, then you should use 1 or 2 late days. If you end up using all 4 late days, you are doing it wrong.
- Webquizes: there are no late days allowances for Webquizes,
but we will drop your lowest score (for
example, if you miss one Webquiz, that won't count). You may
retry a webquz as often as you want: the highest score you have
achieved on Gradiance as of the due date is your score for that
assignment.
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- Attendance
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- We hope
you will attend every lecture. If you miss a
lecture, talk to a
friend who was present, and be sure to check the Web site for class
messages.
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- Programming
- Some programming will be necessary in this course. One can only
start to appreciate database systems by actually trying to use
one. Databases only hold the data, the application logic
needs to be written in some general purpose language. We will use
the following tools in class:
- SQLite
- XQuery (saxon he)
- SQL Server on Windows Azure (Microsoft's Web Service)
- Java
- Pig Latin (through Amazon Web Services)
- Tools
- The course website
and mailing list will be used extensively to provide you with
course information, such as the schedule mentioned above, homework
assignments and solutions, class messages and many other
things. There is a discussion board that everyone should use to keep in touch outside of class. Please see the main webpage of the course for
details.
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- Computer Use Policy
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- Some excerpts from the
campus policies. Take them seriously: "Software and information resources provided through the University for use by students, faculty, and staff may be used on computing equipment only as specified in the various software licenses. It is against University policy for you to copy or reproduce any licensed software on University computing equipment, except as expressly permitted by the software license"
- Academic Misconduct
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- Please see the separate discussion of Academic Integrity.
You are expected to read and understand every word in that document.
Ask first if you have any questions.
- All work turned in is expected to be your own. Although
students are encouraged to study together, each student is
expected to produce his or her own solution to the homework
problems. Coping or using sections of someone else's program, even
if it has been modified by you, is not acceptable. The University
has very clear guidelines for academic misconduct and the staff of
CSE 414 will be vigorous in enforcing them.