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Introduction to Data Systems and Data Design

In this course, we will focus on data and the methods to model, organize, manage, and process data at scale using modern data systems. We will begin with data modeling—how to describe and model data, how to query it, and understand its logical semantics and properties. Next, we will explore ways to process and manage data, both relationally and using more flexible frameworks. Additionally, we will cover practical design principles such as schema design, integrity constraints, and an introduction to data management systems that help us understand performance and speed of data processing.

  • Date: Monday/Wednesday
  • Time: 01:30 pm - 02:50 pm
  • Place: JCL 011
  • Contact: Ce Zhang (cez@uchicago.edu)
  • Textbook: Database Systems: The Complete Book (Jennifer Widom, Héctor García-Molina, Jeffrey Ullman)
    • We also frequently draw inspirations from Foundations of Databases: The Logical Level (Serge Abiteboul, Richard Hull, Victor Vianu); it is not mandatory for this course, but it is another amazing book for understanding data in general

Syllabus & Materials (Might Change Slightly)

Lecture(id, date, title, materials)
iddatetitlematerials
1Sep/30Apollo, the Moon, and a DatabaseSlides
2Oct/02Inference, Logical Inference, and Relational ModelsSlides; Reading: Chapter 2
3Oct/07Query Language and SQLSlides; Reading: Chapter 6
4Oct/09Queries, Queries, QueriesReading: Chapter 6
5Oct/14Known Unknowns, Uncertainty, Provenances, and ValuesReading: Chapter 6
6Oct/16Correctness, Constraints and Data IntegrityReading: Chapter 7
7Oct/21Recursion and NegationReading: Chapter 10.2
8Oct/23Data Quality, Cleaning, and IntegrationReading: N/A
9Oct/28Entity-relationship and Design TheoryReading: Chapter 4
10Oct/30Guest Lecture – Database in the Era of LLMsReading: N/A
11Nov/04Midterm Exam/
12Nov/06Database Systems and the I/O Game 
13Nov/11Database Systems: Files and Buffer 
14Nov/13Database Systems: Indices and Operators 
15Nov/18Database Systems: Query Execution and Optimization 
16Nov/20Database Systems: Transactions 
17Dec/02Beyond a Single Machine 
18Dec/04Beyond Tables and Logical Inference