Database Final Exam Study Guide
This study guide is meant to supplement your other study materials. IT IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR YOUR STUDY MATERIALS.
It is NOT a guarantee that all questions will come from this list of topics.
Review all video lectures, textbook chapters/sections, powerpoint slides, personal lecture notes, assignments to-date, quiz questions, class
demos and practice exercises that correspond to the exam scope that you were given. You should be comfortable with all this material.
Having begun work on the final team project queries will be be helpful as well.
1.
What RDBMS product have we used in class this semester? What client application development interface have we used to maintain
objects in this RDBMS? Be able to recognize and describe the key architecture components of the SQL Server RDBMS product that
we discussed in class.
2.
What is denormalization? What are advantages and disadvantages? When and why would we consider denormalization?
3.
Be able to explain the 2 forms of file organizations discussed in class. Be able to explain how they work and the advantages and
disadvantages of each. Know the general structure of indexes and the four different types of indexes discussed.
4.
What is SQL?
5.
Is SQL implemented the same way across all RDBMSs? Explain your answer.
6.
Know the 2 categories of SQL commands and what each category represents. Know SQL commands from both categories.
7.
Know all of the SQL commands discussed in class. Given an ERD or table(s), be able to construct the SQL DDL to create and
grant privileges to a user, to create the table(s), including any required constraints, as well as change the table structure or delete
the table altogether. Know what views are and why we create them. Be able to create a view on table(s). Be able to issue the
appropriate DML to add, update, delete, or query records from tables.
8.
Understand and be able to write the various forms of an SQL query (i.e., the SQL SELECT statement) discussed in class. Know the
syntax and structure of a SELECT statement. Know where search conditions/criteria are implemented in SQL. Understand the
various SQL clauses, operators, functions (including but not limited to the system functions discussed), and expressions, and when and
how to use them in queries. Know how to sort, filter, categorize/group, select the top/bottom records, etc. in SQL queries. Know
when to use GROUP BY and when to use WHERE vs. HAVING.
9.
Understand and be able to describe and use the methods covered in class to retrieve data from multiple tables in a query. Be able to
construct queries using both methods.
10. Know and be able to describe all the types of joins discussed in class, including how the database processes the joins and how the joins
differ. Know how and where to use the different types of joins in queries.
11. Understand the concept of database stored code. What is database-stored code? Understand what stored procedures, functions, and
triggers are, and similarities and differences between them. Know advantages of database-stored code over non-database-stored code
and be able to explain why database stored code is implemented in organizations.
12. Understand how we implement referential integrity in SQL. More broadly, understand how we can ensure data integrity when
creating tables.
13. Why might the value of a particular field be empty? Know how to store and check for null values in columns.
14. Be able to describe, in general terms, how Excel can be used to access and analyze SQL Server data. Understand and be able to describe
how Excel can be used to create basic organization dashboards; this includes the types of objects that can be produced for dashboards
and how they are produced.
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