Data are groups of information that represent the qualitative or quantitative

attributes of a variable or set of variables

(1) In computing, data is information that has been translated into a form that is more convenient
to move or process. Relative to today's computers and transmission media, data is information
converted into binary digital form.
2) In computer component interconnection and network communication, data is often
distinguished from "control information," "control bits," and similar terms to identify the main
content of a transmission unit.
3) In telecommunications, data sometimes means digital-encoded information to distinguish it
from analog-encoded information such as conventional telephone voice calls. In general,
"analog" or voice transmission requires a dedicated continual connection for the duration of a
related series of transmissions. Data transmission can often be sent with intermittent connections
in packets that arrive in piecemeal fashion.
4) Generally and in science, data is a gathered body of facts.
Some authorities and publishers, cognizant of the word's Latin origin and as the plural form of
"datum," use plural verb forms with "data". Others take the view that since "datum" is rarely
used, it is more natural to treat "data" as a singular form.
collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn; "statistical data"

DATABASE
A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed,
managed, and updated. In one view, databases can be classified according to types of content:
bibliographic, full-text, numeric, and images.
Computer databases typically contain aggregations of data records or files, such as sales
transactions, product catalogs and inventories, and customer profiles.
The definition of a database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a
computer system. In order for a database to be truly functional, it must not only store large
amounts of records well, but be accessed easily. In addition, new information and changes
should also be fairly easy to input. In order to have a highly efficient database system, you need
to incorporate a program that manages the queries and information stored on the system. This is
usually referred to as DBMS or a Database Management System. Besides these features, all
databases that are created should be built with high data integrity and the ability to recover data
if hardware fails.
A database management system (DBMS) is software that organizes the storage of data. It
controls the creation, maintenance, and use of the database storage stuctures of an organization
and its end users. It allows organizations to place control of organizationwide database
development in the hands of Database Administrators (DBAs) and other specialist. In large
systems, a DBMS allows users and other software to store and retrieve data in a structured way.
Database management systems are categorized according to the database model that they
support, such as the network, relational or object model. The model tends to determine the query
languages that are available to access the database. One commonly used query language for the
relational database is SQL, although SQL syntax and function can vary from one DBMS to
another. A common query language for the object database is OQL, although it is not
implemented by all vendors of object databases. A great deal of the internal engineering of a
DBMS is independent of the data model, and is concerned with managing factors such as
performance, concurrency, integrity, and recovery from hardware failures. In these areas there
are large differences between products.
A relational database management system (RDBMS) implements the features of the relational
model. In this context, Date's "Information Principle" states: "the entire information content of
the database is represented in one and only one way. Namely as explicit values in column
positions (attributes) and rows in relations (tuples). Therefore, there are no explicit pointers
between related tables." This contrasts with the object database management system (ODBMS)
which does store explicit pointers between related types.

information
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Definition

In general, raw data that (1) has been verified to be accurate and timely, (2) is specific and organized
for a purpose, (3) is presented within a context that gives it meaning and relevance, and which (4)
leads to increase in understanding and decrease in uncertainty. The value of information lies solely in
its ability to affect a behavior, decision, or outcome. A piece of information is considered valueless if,
after receiving it, things remain unchanged. For the technical meaning of information see information
theory.

Metadata
Metadata describes other data. It provides information about a certain item's content. For
example, an image may include metadata that describes how large the picture is, the color depth,
the image resolution, when the image was created, and other data. A text document's metadata
may contain information about how long the document is, who the author is, when the document
was written, and a short summary of the document.

Web pages often include metadata in the form of meta tags. Description and keywords meta tags
are commonly used to describe the Web page's content. Most search engines use this data when
adding pages to their search index.
File processing system store data in separate computer files

Disadvantages of File Processing Systems include:

1. Program-Data Dependence. File descriptions are stored within each application
program that accesses a given file.

2. Duplication of Data. Applications are developed independently in file processing

systems leading to unplanned duplicate files. Duplication is wasteful as it requires
additional storage space and changes in one file must be made manually in all files.
This also results in loss of data integrity. It is also possible that the same data item
may have different names in different files, or the same name may be used for
different data items in different files.
 3. Limited data sharing. Each application has its own private files with little
opportunity to share data outside their own applications. A requested report may
require data from several incompatible files in separate systems.

4. Lengthy Development Times. There is little opportunity to leverage previous

development efforts. Each new application requires the developer to start from
scratch by designing new file formats and descriptions

5. Excessive Program Maintenance. The preceding factors create a heavy program

maintenance load.

6. Integrity Problem. The problem of integrity is the problem of ensuring that the data
in the database is accentuate.

? Data redundancy & inconsistency.

? Difficult in accessing data.
? Data isolation.
? Data integrity.
? Concurrent access is not possible.
? Security Problems.

Data dependency
A data dependency in computer science is a situation in which a program
statement (instruction) refers to the data of a preceding statement.
Data redundancy
Data Redundancy refers to a data organization act that duplicates your unnecessary data within
the Microsoft Access database. To make any changes or modification in the redundant data,
you are supposed to make changes in the multiple fields of the database. While this is a general
behaviour for Spreadsheet and Flat File Database structure, it overwhelms the function of
relational database structure.

The data connections should allow you to keep up and maintain just one data field, only
at one location, and make the database the main relational model that would be responsible for
any changes, across the data base. The redundant database utilizes lot of place unnecessarily
and also creates problem for the maintenance of the database.