How is a database viewed?

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I'm a beginner in computer programming, and so far I've done Java and Android. I don't know much about databases. I have a few questions in order to get a clear picture of database's place in computer based application development.

1. Who creates a database? How is it created? Where is it created? And, what does it look like?
2. When a front end application is coded with Java, and a back end database is coded with MySQL. What process is used to interlink them?
3. What are the ways in which database can be viewed once they are created?

Thank you!

What I have tried:

I have checked online tutorials, which make vast use of technical terms that do not help me in getting a clear picture of what database really is.

Posted 24-Dec-16 4:10am

Amogh Halageri

Updated 24-Dec-16 16:55pm

OriginalGriff

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Q1. Who creates a database? How is it created? Where is it created? And, what does it look like?

Q1.1 Who creates a database?
Ans:Anyone who knows how to create a database can create a database, even my mom can do it if I guide her. From IT stand-point, during an enterprise software development it will typically be a programmer, developer or DBA (database administrator)

Q1.2 How is it created?
Ans:Database can be created in following ways:
- Manually - By Developer or DBA (Database administrator) using database management tools e.g. SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server database
- Automatically through code written in C# .Net e.g. via ADO .Net or ORMs (Object Relational Mappers) like Entity Framework

Q1.3 Where is it created?
Ans:Ultimately database resides on your hard-disk.

Q1.4 what does it look like?
Ans:On disk it will be all binary stuff but when you look it through a database management tools you get to see tables, rows, columns, relationship between them etc.

Q2. When a front end application is coded with Java, and a back end database is coded with MySQL. What process is used to interlink them?
Ans: Database provider is the glue between your front end java application and the back end database e.g. MySQL. A database provider is ultimately a *.dll file which contains all the logic of doing the interaction with a given database. e.g. For SQL Server there is a famous provider named System.Data.SqlClient. You will find a provider for any database (e.g. oracle, SQL Server, MySQL) for the Java or .Net coding environment you are working upon.

Q3. What are the ways in which database can be viewed once they are created?
Ans: Database tables, rows, columns etc can be viewed using database management tools e.g. SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server database.

To view its files (*.mdf,*.ldf etc in SQL Server) where it stores your database contents on disk - You can be view them through simple windows explorer by navigating to appropriate directory path where those files are located.

Posted 24-Dec-16 16:55pm

Rasik Bihari Tiwari

Updated 24-Dec-16 17:48pm

v3

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OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-24T04:49:00

1. Who creates a database? How is it created? Where is it created? And, what does it look like?

Developers, mostly - often in their guise as "data administrators". Basically, we do it - because while it's actually pretty simple to "create a database" getting it right is a lot harder.
How do we create them? Well we have a lot of choices really. We can use a database front end program and VS will do as that at a pinch, or SSMS for Sql server, or MySQL Workbench for MySql, or even Access for simple single-user databases. Or we can create them by issuing the appropriate SQL commands from our code directly into the database engine, in the same way that our code uses SELECT or INSERT commands to access the data.
Where is it created? Well...
How long is a piece of string? It's much the same question. If you are using something like Access then you specify where the file is when you first save it - so where the file is is up to you. If you use a management system like MySQL or SQL Server, then most of teh time we don't know, and don't care where it is - the management system will take care of that. (The exception being when we ATTACH a DB to the management system, but that's only available for development anyway, not production).
What does it look like? This:

0000000100001111000000000000000000001000000000100000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000100000000
0110001100000000000000000000000001100100000110111000001000010101
0000000000000000000000000000000000000001000000000000000000000000
0001100100000010000000000000000010101000000001000000000000000000
0001100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000010010111111110111000100000100111
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00110000000000000000100000000000...

It's electronic binary data - it doesn't "look" like anything, any more than your application EXE file does!

2. When a front end application is coded with Java, and a back end database is coded with MySQL. What process is used to interlink them?

Again, that's a "piece of string" question - it depends far too much on where exactly the server and client are, and what systems they are running. In theory, you could have any connection medium between them - including IPoAC[^] as well as more conventional networking methods. To be honest, you don't need to know this - you could assume it's "all done by magic" and it would work just as well! It's the same thing you use to talk to your printer, the internet, emails, ... and it's fiendishly complicated once you start to scratch the surface! :laugh:

3. What are the ways in which database can be viewed once they are created?

All the ways that we used to create them! But mostly via custom applications or web sites.