CS 235: Introduction to Databases

Fall 2002

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12 - 1:20 pm, Ryerson 276

This document will be updated throughout the quarter. Please, check out the latest version at http://www.classes.cs.uchicago.edu/classes/archive/2002/fall/23500-1/index.html

Announcements

The final will be held on Tuesday, December 10, from 10:30 to 12:30, in Ryerson 276.

The midterm will be held in class on Thursday, October 31, 2002. You can get an idea of what to expect by looking at the midterm from last year and its solution.

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Course Description

This course is an introduction to database design and programming. You will learn how to design effectively database applications and the fundamental principles behind good design. You will also learn how to program your databases applications using a commercial database system.

Personnel


Name	Role	Office	Office hours	Phone	Email
Svetlozar Nestorov	Instructor	Ryerson 257C	by appointment	(773) 702-3497	evtimov@cs.uchicago.edu
Xuehai Zhang	TA	Ryerson 177 #3	Fridays, 2-4pm	(773) 834-4416	hai@cs.uchicago.edu

Prerequisites

CS 117 or equivalent.

Textbooks

The textbook for the course is A First Course in Database Systems by Jeff Ullman and Jennifer Widom. However, if you plan to study databases beyond this introductory course, you may consider buying Database Systems: The Complete Book by Hector Garcia-Molina, Jeff Ullman and Jennifer Widom. This book contains our textbook as its first ten chapters.

You may also find useful to have a reference book on SQL such as "A Guide to the SQL Standard" by C. J. Date and H. Darwen, Addison-Wesley, 1999.

Oracle Info

Office Hours

The office hours will be announced during the first week of class.

Grading Policy

The grades for the class will be based on your results on the weekly written homework, multipart project, midterm, and final. The approximate weights are:

Homework: 15%
Project: 35%
Midterm: 20%
Final: 30%

Lateness policy

You have two 48-hour extensions. Using an extension allows you to turn in your work on Thursday instead of Tuesday. You can use at most one extension before the midterm, and at most one extension after the midterm.

Collaboration policy

We encourage you to discuss the course material with you fellow students. However, submitted assignments should be your own work. If you discuss in details specific problems or assignments with other people, please, acknowledge them on the front of the work that you turn in.

Schedule

This schedule of the lectures, readings, and assignments is tentative and may change as the class progresses.

Exams

The midterm will be held in class, on Thursday, October 31, 2002.

Yes, you can take it in your Halloween costume! Boooo!

Resources

The textbook homepage has a comprehensive list of relevant resources.