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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2023/2024

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Informatics : Informatics

Postgraduate Course: Foundations of Databases (INFR11200)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Informatics CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course replaced Advanced Topics in Foundations of Databases (INFR11122) from 2019-20.

Data is everywhere, coming in different shapes and volumes, and needs to be stored and managed using appropriate data management technologies. The basic software package that supports the management of data is called a database management system (DBMS). The main goal of this course is to explain some of the underlying theoretical principles and characteristics of DBMSs. More precisely, this course will explain how real-life concepts (such as a database and a query) and phenomena (such as incompleteness and inconsistency of data), can be abstracted from their physical implementation and mathematically formalised using tools coming from other areas such as computational logic. This will pave the way towards the study of query evaluation, that is, the central task of extracting meaningful information from (possibly incomplete and inconsistent) data by means of queries, following a mathematically rigorous approach. This analysis will expose the source of complexity in evaluating a query over a database, which in turn provides ideas and tools on how to devise more efficient query evaluation algorithms.
Course description The course will cover the following topics:
- Relational model: data model, relational algebra, relational calculus (first-order queries), first-order query evaluation, static analysis of first-order queries (satisfiability and containment).

- Conjunctive queries (CQs): syntax and semantics (via the notion of homomorphism), CQ evaluation, static analysis of CQs (satisfiability, containment and the Homomorphism Theorem), minimisation of CQs.

- Fast conjunctive query evaluation: acyclic CQs, evaluating acyclic CQs (Yannakaki's algorithm), semantically acyclic CQs and their evaluation, size bounds for joins (AGM bound), worst-case optimal join algorithms.

- Adding recursion - Datalog: inexpressibility of recursive queries, syntax and semantics of Datalog, Datalog query evaluation, static analysis of Datalog queries, Datalog vs. first-order queries.

- Uncertainty - reasoning over possible worlds: incomplete databases, inconsistent databases, probabilistic databases, knowledge-enriched databases.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Database Systems (INFR10070) OR Introduction to Databases (INFR10080)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking Foundations of Databases (UG) (INFR11250)
Other requirements MSc students must register for this course, while Undergraduate students must register for INFR11250 instead.

While there are no formal prerequisites, it is recommended that students have passed an introductory course in Databases; in particular, some familiarity with the relational model, the main relational query languages (calculus and algebra), and integrity constraints is welcome. It is also recommended that students have some basic familiarity with complexity theory (standard complexity classes such as PTIME and NP, and the notion of completeness). In any case, this course is self-contained, and all the necessary tools will be properly introduced and explained during the lectures.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesAs above.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. abstract relational data and relational queries from their physical implementation, and formalise them in a rigorous way
  2. analyse the complexity of querying relational data, and isolate the source of complexity
  3. explain the semantics of Datalog queries, analyse the complexity of evaluating Datalog queries, and model real-life queries in a declarative way
  4. formalise uncertain data, analyse the complexity of querying uncertain data, and explain the reasons that lead to intractability
  5. read and summarise research papers
Reading List
- Abiteboul, Hull, Vianu, Foundations of Databases, 1995
- Libkin, Elements of Finite Model Theory, 2012
- Bertossi, Database Repairing and Consistent Query answering, 2011
- Suciu, Olteanu, Re, Koch, Probabilistic Databases, 2011
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Problem-solving, analytical thinking, independent learning, written communication.
KeywordsRelational data,Relational queries,Query evaluation,Static analysis of queries,Fast query evaluation
Contacts
Course organiserDr Andreas Pieris
Tel: (0131 6)51 5606
Email: apieris@inf.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Lindsay Seal
Tel: (0131 6)50 2701
Email: lindsay.seal@ed.ac.uk
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