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