Database

Ahhh... the base of the world's data. The repository where all the secrets of the universe is contained. We can consider anything to be a database. And database can be in any forms. The speed with which we come to a full understanding of what a given set of data is about is what determines its usefulness. How we come to that understanding is the process applied against it.

For a database to be useful it must be well-structured. For its usefulness quickly understood, the process(es) applied must be efficient and intuitive. Only when we fully grasp these fundamental ideas can we also appreciate and begin to study its complexity.

Let's for a moment imagine that a book is a kind of database. Conceptually, the structure of a book could be: the binding and the leaves. The binding may contain the backbone, front- and back-cover. The leaves may contain the table of contents, the content itself, and the content indices. Further, the contents may contain chapters, sections, and paragraphs. We can go on to the sentences containing phrases, words, letters (alphabets), numbers, and punctuation. Since we were but a tot, we learned ABC's. We then learned to put words together, sentences, and so on. We also learned how to read. In effect, we learned methods of operation, where the objects being operated on are letters, words, sentences, etc. so that we can communicate with one another be it orally or via written materials. From a very young age all we learn is essentially this very same concept of database — its structure and mode of operations or behaviors.

Database is one of the most significant part of an information system. Despite the simplicity of a database concept, it is still oft misunderstood. Why is that? To illustrate, let's consider the following story. I am a database developer, and yet if I sell myself solely on my technical skills, i.e., in my ability designing and implementing database applications I would not be able to compete with the younger generations of coders many of whom are very creative, to say the least, in their programming styles and habits. In addition, many modern programming tools almost makes someone with a highly disciplined programmer obsolete, i.e., it almost take no brains these days to be able to program anything. The reality is different. These tools don't make us obsolete. We are in greater demand more than ever for a very simple reason, tools and technologies don't replace knowledge and judgement. Similarly, having knowledge and judgement alone won't be enough if one does not know how to execute them in timely manners.