Topic-wise Study Guide

Full lecture content, question patterns, and worked examples for every topic. Each page contains theory from the BITS Pilani slides, exam-focused question breakdowns, and solving strategies.

Factual Memorize Conceptual Understand Solving Practice

Module 1 — Data Modeling

ER Model & Mapping

Entities, attributes, relationships, cardinality, weak entities, specialization. Full mapping rules for 1:1, 1:N, M:N, weak entities, multi-valued attributes.

Factual Solving

Relational Model & Query Languages

Codd's model, keys, integrity constraints, NULL and 3-valued logic, relational algebra operators, outer joins, relational calculus, Codd's theorem.

Factual Conceptual Solving

Module 2 — Schema Design & Normalization

Normalization & FDs

Update anomalies, functional dependencies, Armstrong's axioms, closure algorithm, candidate key finding, 1NF–BCNF, lossless join, dependency preservation, canonical cover, 3NF synthesis.

Factual Conceptual Solving

MVDs & 4NF

Multi-valued dependencies, the CTX motivation, Fagin's theorem, trivial MVDs, 4NF definition, 4NF decomposition algorithm. Why BCNF is not enough.

Conceptual Solving

Module 3 — Storage & Indexing

Storage & File Organization

Storage hierarchy, disk mechanics, access time calculation, elevator algorithm, flash memory, blocking factor formula, heap/sorted/hash files, slotted pages, RAID.

Factual Solving

Indexing

Primary/secondary/sparse/dense indexes, multi-level index, B+ tree structure, degree calculation, insertion/deletion, bulk loading. Extendible hashing, linear hashing, R-tree MINDIST for NN queries.

Factual Conceptual Solving

Module 4 — Query Processing

Query Processing & Optimization

Query processing pipeline, selection algorithms, external merge sort, all 5 join algorithms with cost formulas, equivalence rules, heuristic optimization, cost-based optimization, pipelining vs materialization.

Factual Conceptual Solving

Module 5 — Transaction Management & Recovery

Transaction Management & Concurrency

ACID properties, transaction states, lost update / dirty read / inconsistent analysis, conflict serializability, precedence graph, view serializability, recoverability, 2PL variants, timestamp ordering, protocol comparison.

Factual Conceptual Solving

Crash Recovery

Log records, immediate vs deferred update, WAL protocol, checkpointing, undo/redo classification, worked recovery examples, shadow paging, compensating transactions.

Factual Conceptual Solving

Quick Navigation

Module Topics
Data Modeling ER Model & Mapping · Relational Model
Schema Design Normalization & FDs · MVDs & 4NF
Storage & Indexing Storage & File Organization · Indexing
Query Processing Query Processing & Optimization
Transactions Transaction Management · Crash Recovery