It’s all about databases today

Apart from games and perhaps photo processing software, most of the applications we use are some forms of database. We may not notice it — and sometime don’t even need to — but Amazon’s gigantic online shopping store, online banking websites and airline booking systems are nothing but large databases. So are imdb.com movies and dpreview.com digital photography websites; both are now owned by Amazon by the way. And of course the biggest of them all, Google’s contents that we love to search, are nothing but a gigantic, planetary-scale database.

Your contacts list —whether you keep it in your smartphone, in MS Outlook or online with free e-mail accounts such as Gmail — is also one form of database, albeit a small, very simple one.

Does it really matter to understand what a database structure is and how it works? Not necessarily and not for the casual user. However, given the high level today of IT awareness, especially among the young generation, and the availability of easy-to-learn databases, it comes as a precious value added to one’s IT culture and general knowledge, two elements that cannot be underestimated by today’s standards of education and culture. Not to mention that such knowledge leads to smoother dealing with countless applications whether operated from a smartphone or a computer.

If not learning fully the art and the technique of database design and management, understanding at least the essential concept alone can be beneficial, whatever your trade or academic profile may be. For that understanding Microsoft Excel spreadsheet application is a good place to start. Most people use but a tiny fraction of Excel possibilities, sticking to basic calculations, whereas with its columns and rows structure Microsoft’s superb application comes with many database functions. It is intuitive enough for everyone to discover and move along more complex functions, progressively.

The Pro version of Microsoft Office Suite also comes with Access, a real database application. It is not as intuitive as Excel but it is possible to use the templates and Northwind, the sample database that is supplied freely with the programme, to learn it yourself without external assistance at all, or eventually with a little help from YouTube tutorials. What is nice with Access is that you can use it in a very simple manner or take it to the extreme and build very advanced, sophisticated systems.

MS-Access is considered to be right in the middle of the range of databases that go all the way up to Oracle and SAP, two high-end professional databases that no one should even try alone at home! Besides, their licences are so expensive that only enterprises can afford to buy them.

At the lower end are nice databases that you can even enjoy learning and discovering on your smartphone or tablet. One such friendly application is Memento by LuckyDroid. As the name of the designer implies, it is available only for Android phones for the time being, not for iPhones.

Memento is great in all its aspects. It is light, fast and inexpensive at only $10. Moreover, it comes with all the essential “ingredients” that make a true database, but in simplified form: fields, records, searches, queries, password protection, etc. If you enjoy your Android smartphone and are comfortable working long hours on its screen, Memento is the ideal place to start. If your phone screen is just not big enough, do it on an Android tablet.

With Memento building a personalised contact list or a database to store all your passwords is easy and will make you understand how a database is structured.

Understanding database structure, what it is and what it does, leads to better understanding the Web and the world of IT in general.