COMS W4111-Introduction to Databases
Fall 2009

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:10-2:25 p.m.
535 Mudd Bldg.

Collaboration and Academic Honesty | Homework and Project Policies | Contests and Rewards | CVN Students |
CourseWorks Discussion Board | Announcements | Schedule and Lecture Notes |
Homework | Project 1: Part 1 (Grading), Part 2 (Grading), Part 3 | Project 2 | Midterm Grading |

Course Description:	You will learn what a database system is, how you can design databases effectively and in a principled manner, and how you can develop applications using databases. The course will focus on relational and object-relational databases.
Prerequisites:	COMS W3134 or W3137 (equivalent courses taken elsewhere are acceptable as well) and Fluency in Java. You need to get permission from the instructor if you do not have these prerequisites. This course is intended for both Computer Science majors as well as non-majors.
Topics:	The fundamentals of database design and application development using databases: entity-relationship modeling, logical design of relational databases, relational data definition and manipulation languages, SQL; object-relational databases; XML; query processing; physical database tuning; transaction processing; security.
Textbook:	Raghu Ramakrishnan, Johannes Gehrke: Database Management Systems, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill, 2002. ISBN: 0072465638. (Available from the Book Culture bookstore, located at 536 W. 112th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave. Also on reserve in the Engineering Library.)
Grades:	15% homework assignments (4, all equally weighted) 25% projects (2): Project 1 is worth 15% of the course grade, while Project 2 is worth 10% of the course grade 20% midterm (closed book) Thu Oct 22, 1:10-2:25 p.m., in Altschul Auditorium, 417 International Affairs Building (SIPA); see directions at http://www.cs.columbia.edu/theory/directions2.html 40% final (closed book) Tue Dec 22, 1:10-4:00 p.m., in Altschul Auditorium, 417 International Affairs Building (SIPA); see directions at http://www.cs.columbia.edu/theory/directions2.html

Instructor:	Prof. Luis Gravano
Office:	706 Schapiro CEPSR
Office Hours:	Tuesdays, 4-5 p.m. Wednesdays, 10-11 a.m. By appointment by email
Telephone:	1-212-939-7064
Email:	gravano@cs.columbia.edu

Teaching Assistant	Office Hours	Location	Email
Xiangrong Kong	Mondays, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.	TA Room	xk2107@columbia.edu
Kyoho Satsumi	Mondays, 3-5 p.m.	TA Room	ks2677@columbia.edu
Suhas Suhas	Wednesdays, 4-6 p.m.	TA Room	ss3474@columbia.edu
Bai Xiao	Thursdays, 10 a.m.–12 n.	TA Room	bx2108@columbia.edu
Bo Zhang	Thursdays, 3-5 p.m.	TA Room	bz2145@columbia.edu

Luis Gravano
gravano@cs.columbia.edu