Chapter 6

The database is arguably the most essential part to many software projects. It is where the bulk of the important data from users is stored and able to be reused when needed. Part of the data science curriculum at the College of Charleston is centered databases and the management of large data-sets. With that being said, I have slight experience in several SQL queries and other database techniques from the DATA 210 class. The command line is a useful tool when querying data-sets, and trying to find trends in data. One interesting thing about data-bases is that the information stored inside "persists", or is able to exceed the lifetime of the actual program. The data is still able to be used and modified even if the program no longer is viable. Databases are stand alone things that coincide with programs to serve as a data storage. One is able to store  and organize vast amounts of data with relatively simple commands. One such type of organization are tables, which have a fixed number of columns and varying number of rows. An important concept to consider when implementing tables is the idea of normalization. Normalization allows tables to be queried and compared using a standardized language. Tables are able to be quickly queried because the information has its own key which is referenced when searching. This chapter has served as good review for database management, and the specific queries that we learned in Data 210 at the College of Charleston. I have had many conversations with my father about the great importance of databases, and how a company will pay good money to have a database specialist. This is something that I have considered as a career, citing the need for more database professionals in the field. I feel as though as data-scientist with an expertise in database management should go hand in hand, and would make for an essential part of any team.