Relational Databases_R6

The article in Access Science article talks about the databases being built for specific users and that those users can use C++, Visual Basic and Java to write the coding. Clients are connected to a database which they send queries to in order to retrieve data. The relational database uses tables of data in which the parameters or fields are given in the top of each column and the values for each of that type in the rows beneath. Each relation must have a primary key or ID that identifies it. The article also defines the views in the relations as queries that store the data in a secure way (Toledo).

“Relational Databases 101: Looking at the Whole Picture” starts by simply defining what a database management system is as well as a relational database management system, which were more or less the same as defined in the access science article. This article lists the advantages and disadvantages as well as applications of not only the relational database but also several other alternatives in tables and then discusses some of the issues in more depth. The biggest problem noted not just for relational databases but other types as well was with coupling and one solution to alleviate some of this is encapsulating access to the database (Ambler).

“Relational Databases” discussed some common applications of relational databases include inventory, accounting, and the article was in this case also applied to game developing (West). The author describes several ways in which a database can be set up; either on a local network, a remote hosting, third party host or a local machine. Tables of IDs need to be set up and the ID field should be an integer set to auto-increment; thus to implement that data, just query the database for that set of IDs. One example of a useful application in game development for databases is adding a field for machine so that any warnings that are created can be tracked and corrected (West). All of the different tables can also be cross-indexed with each other to avoid duplication of the same data (West).