Graduate Comprehensive Examination
Database Systems
This serves as a guide for students preparing for the Database Systems
Graduate Comprehensive Exam. The topics below cover the fundamental
concepts of database systems. They include areas in design,
languages, organization, implementation, and operations.
Books:
- Korth, H. and Siberschatz, A. (1991). Database Systems Concepts.
McGraw Hill.
- Alternate books:
- Elmasri, R. and Navathe, S. (1989). Fundamentals of Database
Systems. Benjamin/Cummings.
- Date, C. J. (1995). An Introduction to Database Systems.
Addison-Wesley.
Topics:
- Introduction (Ch1)
- Data Abraction and Models
- Components of a DBMS
- Entity-Relationship Model (Ch2)
- Relational Model (Ch3, except 3.4)
- Relational Structure
- Relational Algebra
- Tuple Relational Calculus
- SQL Relational Language (Ch4.1)
- Integrity Constraints (Ch5)
- Domain Constraints
- Referential Constraints
- Functional Dependencies
- Relational Database Design (Ch6, except 6.4 & 6.5)
- Information Redundancy
- Lossless Join
- Dependency Preservation
- Normal Forms: 1NF, 2NF, 3NF, BCNF, and 4NF