AS and A-level Computer Science Specification Specifications for first teaching in 2015
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A-level Computer Science7517
4.10 Fundamentals of databases
4.10.1 Conceptual data models and entity relationship modelling
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Produce a data model from given data requirements for a simple scenario involving multiple entities. | |
Produce entity relationship diagrams representing a data model and entity descriptions in the form: Entity1 (Attribute1, Attribute2, .... ). | Underlining can be used to identify the attribute(s) which form the entity identifier. |
4.10.2 Relational databases
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Explain the concept of a relational database. | |
Be able to define the terms:
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4.10.3 Database design and normalisation techniques
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Normalise relations to third normal form. | Students should know what properties are possessed by a relation in third normal form. |
Understand why databases are normalised. |
4.10.4 Structured Query Language (SQL)
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Be able to use SQL to retrieve, update, insert and delete data from multiple tables of a relational database. | |
Be able to use SQL to define a database table. |
4.10.5 Client server databases
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Know that a client server database system provides simultaneous access to the database for multiple clients. Know how concurrent access can be controlled to preserve the integrity of the database. | Concurrent access can result in the problem of updates being lost if two clients edit a record at the same time. This problem can be managed by the use of record locks, serialisation, timestamp ordering, commitment ordering. |