Introduction
A database forms a significant constituent of the information system, particularly in business-oriented systems. As a consequence, the process of developing database system is a component of system development. The division of the development process into a collection of steps or phases is a core feature of software engineering. Each of the phases focuses on a single aspect of the development. Development life cycle is the process software, or a database system undergoes from planning to its implementation. It is imperative to check each phase or step for correctness before moving to the next phase (Bestavros, Lin & Son, 2012).
SDLC Waterfall model
Planning
It is the first phase where all the planning concerning the system development is done. The stakeholders consult and agree on what they want from a system. It is usually outlined as a statement of requirement.
Analysis
The analysis employs the uses and consideration of system requirement generated in the planning phase. It analysis the system requirement and generates a systems specification. System specification outlines what the system should do.
Design
The design phase starts with the systems specification and designs the system using the outlined details in the system specification. It outlines detailed information on how the system should be created.
Implementation
The implementation phase uses the design document to construct the system. It takes the environment where the system will be used into consideration. This phase is normally subdivided into stages which are tested before the next stage is implemented.
Testing
The testing phase is aimed at cross checking whether the implemented system meets the design document and requirement specification. After testing is done, an acceptable report is produced which is used to review the analysis, implementation, and design phases so as to correct the errors and bugs.
Maintenance
Maintenance stage deals with alterations in the implementation environment, requirements, and bug fixing. The process entails a continuous analysis of the required changes, the design of the resolution, implementation and testing of the solution.
Database development life cycle
The design and development of a database system follow the same process as the one described above with a few modifications to fit the database system. In most cases, the development of a database system follows the following process: database planning, system definition, requirement collection and analysis, application design, database design, selection of the database management system, implementation, data conversion and loading, testing and operational maintenance (Bestavros, Lin & Son, 2012).
Database system development process diagram
Database Planning
Database Planning is the first phase in database development process. It entails all the activities that enable the other stages of database development process to be attained smoothly and efficiently. It is imperative to incorporate the planning phase with the overall information system approach to the business. The planning stage entails definition of the objective and mission statement for the database system. It is at this stage that the main aims, the purpose, the supported tasks and the resources of the database system are outlined.
System definition
The boundaries and scope of the database application are outlined in this phase. The scope of the system is described in details to establish what the system will do. The stage outlines a description of who the users of the system are, the connection with other information systems of the business and what the system is going to do in the present time and the future alike. Additionally, the stage describes the main user views.
Requirements Collection and Analysis
The requirements collection and analysis phase completes the gathering and analysis of information pertinent to the system to be served (Bestavros, Lin & Son, 2012). The outcome of this phase includes; the description of data generated or utilized in the system, additional prerequisites for the novel system and details on how the data is to be generated or used in the system.
Database design
This phase is subdivided into three stages: logical database design, conceptual database design, and physical database design. The conceptual database design entails the construction of the model of the data to be utilized. The construction is done independently of all the physical thoughtfulness. The conceptual model is constructed based on the requirement specification of the system. On the other hand, the logical database design phase employs the use of a model of data which is based on a particular data model (Özsu & Valduriez, 2011). However, the data model is independent of a specific database management system. The physical database design phase entails the description of the implementation of the database on a derivative storage. It is at this stage that the database relationship, security, integrity constraints, and indexes are defined through the use of SQL language.
Entity relationship diagram
Before an entity relationship diagram is generated, it is imperative to identify all the entities that will be used in the database system. All the entities should be outlined together with their attributes. It is also imperative to identify the primary key in each entity. The primary key will show the link between one or more entities or tables (Thalheim, 2013). The entities and their attributes are outlined in the form of a table where the columns of the table represent the attributes of each table. Furthermore, it is significant to identify and outline the relationship between the tables. After the relationships have been established, the cardinality of the relationship should be outlined. All these information are then used to create an Entity Relationship Diagram. It is a visual and logical representation of the database system which shows how the various components of the database systems are interconnected.
Selection of the database management system
After the entity relationship diagrams and other logical designs have been completed, a database management system is selected. The type of database management system selected will depend on the organization as well as the environment where the system will be operated. Some of the database management systems which can be selected include SQL Server, Oracle, Access and MySQL (Thalheim, 2013).
After the correct database management system has been selected, the desired user interface and the application programs are defined and designed. This phase is used to define and design the applications that use and process data in the database.
Implementation
The implementation stage entails the physical realization of the application and database designs. It is the phase where programming of the database system is accomplished. It entails; data conversion and loading, testing and operational maintenance. The existing data is converted and loaded into the new system (Özsu & Valduriez, 2011). Testing is thoroughly done before the developed system is deemed operational. Testing is done to find bugs and errors in the system which is used to review, redesign and implement the previous phases.
References
Bestavros, A., Lin, K. J., & Son, S. H. (Eds.). (2012). Real-time database systems: Issues and
applications (Vol. 396). Springer Science & Business Media.
Özsu, M. T., & Valduriez, P. (2011). Principles of distributed database systems. Springer
Science & Business Media.
Thalheim, B. (2013). Entity-relationship modeling: foundations of database technology. Springer
Science & Business Media.
