Data Dictionaries

Term Paper # 91635

Business > Information Mgmt. and Systems
Computer and Technology > Hardware
Computer and Technology > Programming

Data Dictionaries

This paper discusses the importance of data dictionaries and the concept of database normalization.

1,050 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2006 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper describes a database as a file in a database management system that specifies the basic organization of the database and then explaines the importance of a data dictionary. The paper also discusses the basic structure of the data dictionary. The paper explains that the data dictionary is very important because it provides the database and index to find information in the database and also helps programmers who need to work on the database. The paper relates that database normalization is clearly a practice that can be ignored in the real world but can greatly improve database efficiency and performance.

From the Paper:

"A data dictionary can also be described as a set of metadata (data about data) and is a database in its own right. It contains representation of the elements in the database an provides consistent data in the tables of the database if fields are repeated. It can contain both semantics and data representations of definitions for data elements and it is very useful to programmers who plan to work on the database system."

Sample of Sources Used:

Data dictionary -- Whatis.com http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci211896,00.html
Database Normalization - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization