A database is an organized collection of data, generally stored and accessed electronically from a computer system. The database management system (DBMS) is the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze the data. Relational databases which became dominant in the 1980s, very typically model data as rows and columns in a series of tables, and the vast majority use SQL (Structured Query Language) for writing and querying data. Examples of DBMS's include MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL, Oracle Database, Microsoft Access, and very importantly LibreOffice Base as a free open-source system which we are going to use for this introductory relational database course. It is available for all most popular operating systems: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD, including the 64-bit versions.

If you have not downloaded LibreOffice package yet, I recommend you go visit the official LibreOffice download page!

Prerequisites: please make sure that you have installed Java on your computer - it is installed in most Windows systems by default so in most cases there should be no problem, otherwise install Java Runtime Environment (JRE - file jre-8u___-windows-i586-iftw.exe or jre-8u___-windows-i586.exe or jre-8u___-windows-x64.exe) from this page:

https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase-jre8-downloads.html

It is probable that JRE (Java Runtime Environment) does not create symlinks needed nor add information about its location to the system path variable in MacOS X (please check if it is OK, e.g. trying to open a table in a database in LibreOffice - in the newest JDK for MacOS X - file jre-8u___-macosx-x64.dmg). In order to workaround the problem on Macs, please install the full Java Development Kit (JDK - file jdk-8u___-macosx-x64.dmg) from this page:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html

Let us go practice (video lectures only for registered users):

• Introduction to Relational Databases
  (go to course video lectures)
  Outpatient Clinic project.
   
• Boolean Logic in Database Environment
  (go to course video lectures)
  Creating simple database queries. Venn diagrams. De Morgan's Laws. Boolean logical operators and elementary SQL.
   
• Advanced Queries
  (go to course video lectures)
  A little more advanced database training.
   

Courtesy of:
Narcyz Knap MD PhD, Mariusz Baran PhD, Dariusz Świetlik PhD
Intrafaculty College of Medical Informatics & Biostatistics
Medical University of Gdansk, Poland