Did you know: Back in the 1970s, Dr. E.F. Codd, a computer scientist at IBM, discovered a way to store and organize data by modeling it after a mathematical theory known as relational algebra – which inspired the concept of a relational database.
A relational database is a structured collection of data organized to provide a systematic way to store and manage data, emphasizing the relationships between various entities within the data.
Organizations with large volumes of data, both structured and un-structured, use relational database management systems to help administrators find insights in the data and aggregate it to find predefined relationships in real time.
Relational databases operate based on several fundamental principles:
→ Tables: Data is organized into tables that consist of rows and columns. Each row represents a record, while each column holds a specific attribute or field of the data.
→ Keys: Keys establish relationships between tables. Primary keys uniquely identify each record in a table, while foreign keys establish connections to records in other tables. These keys set constraints to ensure that the data integrity remains intact.
→ Relationships: Relational databases excel at managing relationships between tables, ensuring data integrity so that complex relationships can be established easily.
For example, in business management, relational databases power systems such as customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) for data management and decision-making.