Introduction to
ITEC 3335

by K. Yue

1. Promotion

• This course is one of the more useful computing courses for many students.
• World data is estimated to double every two years.

2. Resources

• Contents of the course will be based on
  1. Lecture notes posted in the course website: http://dcm.uhcl.edu/yue/courses/itec3335/current/index.html.
  2. Classroom demonstrations.
  3. Textbook contents.
• Please read the appropriate pages in the textbook and lecture notes in this site before coming to the class.

3. General

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer and Information Technology Job outlook 2016 to 2026:

ACM's Problem Spaces for the Classifications of Computing Disciplines

From ACM Computing Curriculum, 2005.

Computing disciplines pre and post 1990:

ACM's Problem Space:

Computer Science:

Computer Engineering:

Information Systems:

Information Technology:

Software Engineering:

Knowledge Areas and Weight:

4. Introduction

• Persistent data is the backbone of many applications.
• Three main choices of storing persistent data:
  • Files
  • Databases: focus of this course.
  • Cloud-Based Storage
• Advantages of the DB approach (according to Hoffer):
  1. Program-data independence
  2. Planned data redundancy
  3. Improved data consistency
  4. Improved data sharing
  5. Increased application development productivity
  6. Enforcement of standards
  7. Improved data quality
  8. Improved data accessibility and responsiveness
  9. Reduced program maintenance
  10. Improved decision support
• How do we make sense of 10 different advantages?
  • One method: State, Elaborate, Exemplify, Illustrate (SEE-I)
  • Learning through documentation, communications and teaching.

The Relational Model

• Relational databases are the most popular databases. It is based on the relational model.
• There are many other data models.
• In layman's term. A table (relation) is the basic unit of a relational database.
• A table is composed of many rows.
• Each row has many column values.
• Microsoft's Access is based on the relational model. It may be considered as a desktop relational DBMS.