CS 450 - Database Concepts

Class Meetings: Monday and Wednesdays, 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm in Arts and Design Building (AB) Room 2026.

Instructor: Dr Larry Kerschberg

Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:00-2:30 PM, or by email appointment. Skype chats are also welcome by appointment.
Office: 4412 in the Nguyen Engineering Building.
Email: kersch@gmu.edu
Skype: kersch

GTA: Ms. JingJing Gu

Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:00 - 2:30PM, or by Skype via email appointment.
Office: TBD in the Nguyen Engineering Building
Email: jgu2@masonlive.gmu.edu
Skype: joannagu24

We will use Blackboard System for all postings of reading assignments, slides, homework assignments, class discussions, group projects, and email communication.

The GMU Honor Code is in effect at all times.

An expanded statement of the GMU Honor Code is posted here: http://www.gmu.edu/academics/catalog/9798/honorcod.html

The Computer Science Department's Honor Code is posted here: http://cs.gmu.edu/wiki/pmwiki.php/HonorCode/CSHonorCodePolicies.

Prerequisites:

Grade of "C" or better in CS 310 (Data Structures) and CS 330 (Formal Methods and Models).

Course Topics

This course covers basic-to-intermediate knowledge for the design, implementation, and use of relational database systems. The main topics include the relational data model, Entity-Relationship (ER) model for database design, Relational Algebra, SQL, database programming, functional dependencies and normalization, and indexing.

ABET Course Outcomes

Course Textbooks

(1) Elmasri and Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, 6th ed., Addison Wesley, 2011, ISBN-13: 978-0-13-608620-8.

(2) Sunderraman, Oracle 10g Programming, A Primer, Addison-Wesley, 2008, ISBN-13: 978-0-321-46304-3.

Grading Policy

Your final grade will be determined by your performance as follows:

Grade Components and Percentages
Assignments
20
Project
20
Midterm Exam
25
Final Exam
35

Homework assignments and projects are to be submitted on time via Blackboard.
The assignments and projects are to be done individually, unless specified otherwise, and the honor code is in effect at all times.