COMP3311 Week 10 Tuesday Lecture

∧ >>

❖ Week 10 Tuesday

In today's lecture ...

Course Review, Exam Preview

Things to do ...

Assignment 2 ... 390/450 submissions so far ?
MyExperience course evaluation open until Thu 13 Aug
So far only 8% of class (40/470) have filled ... want > 50%
Go to https://myexperience.unsw.edu.au
Update: Wed 5 Aug 10am, 9% completion (46/470) ... keep filling!

<< ∧ >>

❖ COMP3311 Course Aims

At the end of this course you should be able to:

develop accurate, non-redundant data models;
realise data models as relational database schemas;
formulate queries via the full range of SQL constructs;
use stored procedures and triggers to extend DBMS capabilities;
write applications in Python that interact effectively with databases;
understand how queries are expressed via relational algebra operations;
understand the overall architecture of relational DBMSs;
describe how queries are evaluated in a relational DBMS engine;
analyze performance issues in relational database applications;
understand concepts behind transactions and concurrency control

<< ∧ >>

❖ Syllabus Overview

Data modelling and database design
- Entity-relationship (ER) design, relational data model
- Relational theory: relational algebra, functional dependency, normalization
Database application development
- SQL for querying, data definition and modification (PostgreSQL's version)
- extending SQL: Queries, Functions, Aggregates, Triggers
- PostgreSQL, psql (an SQL shell), PLpgSQL (procedural SQL)
- Python3, Psycopg2, accessing data programmatically
DBMS technology
- performance tuning, catalogues, access control
- DBMS architecture, query processing, query optimization, EXPLAIN
- transaction processing: concurrency, serialization, locking

Things in gray will definitely not be examined.

<< ∧ >>

❖ Assessment Summary

Your final mark/grade will be determined as follows:

quizzes = mark for on-line quizzes     (out of 12)
ass1    = mark for assignment 1        (out of 13)
ass2    = mark for assignment 2        (out of 15)
exam    = mark for final exam          (out of 60)
okPrac  = examPrac >= 14/35
okExam  = okPrac && exam >= 24/60      (after scaling, if needed)
mark    = ass1 + ass2 + quizzes + exam
grade   = HD|DN|CR|PS  if mark >= 50 && okExam
        = FL           if mark <  50 && okExam
        = UF           if !okExam

<< ∧ >>

❖ Final Exam

Mon 24 August, 1:45-5:00pm, 3-hour exam, afternoon session only

Get a good night's sleep, Stay hydrated, Arrive by 1:30pm

Exam environment:

invigilated, in the CSE labs, on CSE workstations
closed exam environment, no Webcms3, no email, no web, no GenAI
provided: questions, cheat sheets for PostgreSQL, Python, Psycopg2
no BYO laptops, leave phones, watches and ear pods at front of lab

Use of smart glasses and spy cameras results in serious misconduct charges.

<< ∧ >>

❖ Final Exam (cont)

Questions ...

5 practical exercises, using PostgreSQL/Python3/Psycopg2
4 theory exercises, typed answers, like tute questions

What you have access to ...

the exam paper (html), templates for all questions
checking scripts for programming questions (like autotest)
cheatsheets for PostgreSQL/Python/Psycopg2

What you do not have access to

the class directory, your home directory
Webcms3, email, messaging, etc. (the web browser can only see the local machine)

<< ∧ >>

❖ Final Exam (cont)

When you login (zID/zPass) into the exam environment ...

we create some working directories
- including templates and testing scripts
we create a local PostgreSQL server for you
we load the exam database into your PG server
we start a web browser, pointing at the exam entry page

PostgreSQL server runs on your workstation

Database: will not be huge, will not be overly complex (e.g. < 15 tables)

You do not have access to VLab or /localstorage or /home/YOU

<< ∧ >>

❖ Final Exam (cont)

For the prac questions ...

files are contained in a q? directory
including a template, test cases and a check script

For the theory questions ...

each question has a text file template q?.txt

General suggestions ...

submit your answers using a submit script (e.g. submit q2)
give up on questions that are taking too long (e.g. > 30 mins for prac)
submit questions as you complete them; can submit multiple times
don't leave all submissions to the last minute; if late, not marked

<< ∧ >>

❖ Final Exam (cont)

Want to know what are the questions on the exam ... ?

<< ∧ >>

❖ Final Exam (cont)

Questions are as follows:

an SQL query
another SQL query
a PLpgSQL function
a Python3/Psycopg2 script
another Python3/Psycopg2 script
an analysis/synthesis question
another analysis/synthesis question
another analysis/synthesis question
another analysis/synthesis question

Note that the database for Q1-5 will be available in advance.

<< ∧ >>

❖ Revision

Sources for revision material:

Lecture Material, Prac/Tute Exercises, Assignments
Fundamentals of Database Systems, Elmasri/Navathe
Database System Concepts, Silberschatz/Korth/Sudarshan
Database Systems: Complete Book, Garcia-Molina/Ullman/Widom
Database Systems: App-oriented, Kifer/Bernstein/Lewis
PostgreSQL/Python3/Psycopg2 Documentation

Some Help Sessions will be held in Week 11 and Week 12.

<< ∧ >>

❖ Supplementary Exams

Supplementary Exams are only available to people who

are absent from the Final Exam with good reason
(good = documented, serious, clearly affects ability to do exam)
have performed well during the rest of the semester

If you are awarded a Supp Exam ...

to be held in O-week of 26T3 (Sep 7-11)
you must make yourself available for it
non-attendance at the Supp ⇒ mark of 0 for the exam

<< ∧ >>

❖ Assessment

Assessment is about determining how well you understand the syllabus.

If you can't demonstrate your understanding, you won't pass.

In particular, I don't pass people just because ...

please, please, ... my parents will be ashamed of me
please, please, ... I tried really hard in this course
please, please, ... this is my final course to graduate
please, please, ... I'll be excluded if I fail COMP3311
please, please, ... if I fail this, I can't do COMP93xx
etc. etc. etc.

<< ∧ >>

❖ Assessment (cont)

Of course, assessment isn't a "one-way street" ...

we get to assess you in the final exam
you get to assess us in the Course Evaluation

MyExperience evaluations are online NOW

Several evaluations: course, lecturer, tutor

Telling us good things is ok.

Telling us things to improve is very useful.

<< ∧ >>

❖ Beyond COMP3311

COMP9312 Data Analytics for Graphs

manipulating large-scale graph structures

COMP9313 Big Data Management

handling data that won't fit in a DBMS on one machine

COMP9315 Database Systems Implementation

comprehensive study of DBMS internals

COMP9319 Web Data Compression and Search

compression and searching algorithms, and XML

COMP6714 Information Retrieval and Web Search

finding information in unstructured text

<< ∧ >>

❖ The JAS Quiz

The JAS quiz from intro lecture:

AFL is Australian Football League ... best sport in the world
GABS is Great Australian Beer Spectapular ... annual beer festival
HP is not Harry Potter, but is Hye-young Helen Paik (HYHP?)
IPA is India Pale Ale ... maybe obvious after Assignment 1
KD is ??? ... I think it was Knowledge Discovery, a research area
CFC is not Chloro-fluoro-carbon, but is Carlton Football Club
(who just happened to beat the reigning premiers by 76 points last weekend. Go Blues!)

<< ∧ >>

❖ Some Thoughts ...

You need to learn for life, not just the exam.

In particular, learn to find answers for yourself.

Typically, no single correct answer. (Solutions range from poor to excellent)

Take pride in your work. (Aim for quality, not just correctness)

VScode and autotest will generally not be available in the workplace

<< ∧

❖ Finally ...

Good Luck with the Exams ... and Life ...