Overall

Over the past three weeks, I was able to finally grasp the concept of using MS Access.  Conceptually, I can now think of ideas in a way that makes sense when inputing them on an Access file or in UML format.  Logically, it makes a lot more sense to put two and two together on paper instead of just having everything float around out there.  Theoretically, it makes much more sense to turn ideas into actual diagrams.

The next step after this course is working on a business plan.  Instead of having those ideas float around, I can write them down so they make sense to myself and others.  I plan on making an overall company database sometime in the near future in addition to the backend design to an app I'm working on.  Overall, it was very useful to take this class.

That being said, some of the learning modules could be more concise to explain topics that need to have more depth.  Spending an excessively long amount of time just going over basic functionality of the "save button" and other easy and basic MS functions draws away from the actual useful information.  It would be more useful to go into explaining how UML works, or how the specific functions of the more detailed wizards on the actual program work.

Most important concepts from the DDES class so far:

The most important concept from this course so far is how to turn an idea into a logical model.  Sure, there may be ideas that can be simplified into an easy one or two step process, but a lot of the time, that is not the case.  Instead we need to lay out ideas in a consistent, logical format in order to make sure it makes sense.  Understanding the overarching idea and how it will play out in a logical format is the first step to making that idea a reality.

Secondly, it is important to translate these ideas into specific languages.  Using UML or an Entity-Relationship model, to understand cardinality, we can understand how each entity (or class) can be related to another entity through maximum and minimum values.  This is important because without outlining these specific relationships, we will have no idea how each of the attributes relate to each other.

Finally, while it is important to know exact terminology, it is also important to know how each of the different terms are equivalent across the different languages in database design.  Classes can also be called entities, and attributes are not tuples.  Knowing the terms help make everything make sense.

Overall, these concepts helped me to better understand how I want to structure different ideas in the future.  Without understanding these concepts, it's virtually impossible to turn them into a reality unless you find someone who can translate them for you.  It's also a lot easier to put everything down on paper than to just conceptualize it in your head.

I'm working on an idea right now, for confidentiality, I'd like to not discuss it, but I'll say that database design certainly helps turning that idea into a reality.

Learned so far:

so far in the course, we looked at how different relations connect to each other.  In each of those relations, there are different tuples and attributes that make up different data points.

Now, we can look at overarching themes about the relationships between the data and how they impact each other.  Next, we’re working on figuring out how each of the relations connect with more understanding on those steps.

ID’s are also really important to identifying each of the different tuples which can then relate to other tuples in another relation.  Now I get why there are so many ID’s in the world.  It all goes back to database management!

So a couple thoughts about the new Office Depot Project:

We need to find out:  What makes a product green? Why is that product green? And who says it’s green?

Looking at the EPA website on what constitutes a “green” product over another, they have this whole list of guidelines.  Also, the Demystifying Green Purchasing Standards site has some good standards as well.

So we first need to figure out exactly which of these standards is most relevant for customers, then we need to find out how we are going to determine that.

During class, we discussed how we can relate terms like “biodegradable, ozone friendly, recyclable” to the actual products and figure out where we can verify this information.  It may take some research, but the outcome seems to be worth it.