Course Syllabus

CS 122A: Introduction to Data Management (Summer 2025)

Lectures: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 9:30 am - 10:50 am, Rowland Hall 104

Discussion Section A1: Fridays, 10:00 - 10:50 am,  Rowland Hall 114

Discussion Section A2: Fridays, 11:00 - 11:50 am,  Rowland Hall 114

Lectures

Homework

Exams

• Midterm: July 24, Thursday, in-class, in-person. [Sample Midterm]
• Final: Friday, August 29, 2025, 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM, same classroom (Rowland Hall 104). [Sample Final]

Course Objectives

This course provides students with an introduction to the design of databases and the use of database management systems in support of applications. It covers the entity relationship (E/R) approach to database design. It then covers the relational data model, mapping of E/R designs to relations, relational database design principles, abstract query languages such as the relational algebra and relational calculus, and the industry-standard query language, SQL. Students will gain exposure to how relational database management systems are used to manage an actual database. Time permitting, the course will also touch lightly on advanced database management topics.

This course is aimed at database design and the use of database management systems in implementing database applications. It feeds into a follow-on project course, ​CS122B, whose focus is data-centric Web applications. The CS122A/B course sequence does NOT cover the internals of database systems; that material is covered in the undergraduate course ​CS122C (co-listed as ​CS222) and its graduate-level follow-on course CS223. There is also CS 122D titled "Beyond SQL Data Management." Interested students are strongly encouraged to take one, two, or all of these courses.

Prerequisites

Students should have programming experiences in Java, C#, or C++.

Required textbooks

Database Management Systems (3rd Edition) by Raghu Ramakrishnan and Johannes Gehrke, a.k.a. "the Cow book".

Grading Criteria

Homework: 30%
Quizzes: 5%
Midterm: 30%
Final: 35%

Homework Assignments

Each assignment must be turned in by the assigned due dates/times on GradeScope. For each assignment, we will offer a 24-hour "grace period", and will therefore accept submissions turned in within 24 hours of the due date, with a 10-point penalty. It's 10 points, not 10 percent. For example, if your late project got 87 points, then your real score will be 87-10=77 points. Late assignments will NOT be accepted beyond the grace period, so do always aim to be on time! Please don't even ask, as this is what the 1-day grace period is intended for.

Discussion Sessions

There will also be short weekly quizzes in the discussion section to give you further practice with the course material. Those will count very little towards your final grade. They are mostly a discussion session participation score, and they're really just there for your benefit to give you another opportunity to check your understanding of things. You will get the full credit for each discussion session if you attend it, or 0 if you are absent.

Grade Change Policy

For all of the graded assignments as well as the exams, if you disagree with the grading, you may discuss your concerns with the relevant staff member within 1 week after they are returned. After that, all grades will be considered final.

Policy on Academic Honesty

• All students will be expected to adhere to the UCI and ICS Academic Honesty policies (see https://conduct.uci.edu/students/academic-integrity/index.php for details). Any student found to be involved in cheating or aiding others in doing so will be academically prosecuted to the maximum extent possible: that means you will fail this course. Just say no to cheating!
• In case you reuse another party's source code for certain generic tasks (e.g., JDBC access) make sure you explicitly comment on its origin in your source code.