Databases

Before I started this class I believed that a database was the same as a spreadsheet. Like many people I used the term interchangeably. Spreadsheet is data stored in a cells, so technically it is an organized collection of information. However, they are static documents (excel) while databases can be relational. Databases are flexible and they can contain "relation data" which is data that can be connected across more than one table. 

At the beginning of this class we learned some functions in excel. We learned functions like if, countif, vlookup, named ranges; also, we learned to used for multiple worksheets in one workbook. From there, we moved on to learn how relational databases and how they differ from spreadsheets. We learned about attributes and primary keys. From there, we started working in our ER diagram. We obtain our clean data from a website called CORGIS. We had to find the entities, attributes, primary keys and relationships. The last part of the class consisted in querying a database.

From this class I learned that databases can hold much larger collections of information compared to spreadsheets.  In databases you only care about the values you work on and not the format of it. Also, keys can be used to establish and identify relationships between tables. 

I learned that I have a hard time with databases, so that might not be the route for me. In my job, I like collection the data, and organize it in a spreadsheet to reach a conclusions. It is a skill that it is necessary nowadays, but the job I'm aiming for is mostly about writing reports and filling documents. However, one thing I did not know and will help me in the future is about the ethics of computer science. After reading the code, it can almost be applied to other jobs.