Intro to Database Design

Data, data everywhere, and not a byte to waste....

Database is the science (and art) of storing and retrieving data. As anyone who has tried to analyze data using Excel can attest, it is not as simple as it might seem.

Are you a developer (web or otherwise) and wish to learn more about the backend stack? Are you an analyst who would like to learn why your reports take time to build and run? Are you a business owner or hobbyist who'd like to design your own database system? Or, maybe you're thinking about becoming a database professional? If you answered yes to any of the questions above or are just generally interested in learning more about databases - this class will get you started.

No prior experience is necessary in this introductory course where we will dive deep into the foundations of relational database.

We will cover many intriguing topics such as:

• How do you choose a primary key?

• How do you slice your data into tables?

• What does it mean when someone asks if your database has been "normalized"?

• What is referential integrity?

• What is so special about an index?

This class is the first in a new Girl Develop It series on data, and it is a recommended introduction for those who plan to take the Introduction to SQL on Saturday, February 15th. (https://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-Philadelphia/events/160774282/)

What to bring:

• A notebook, a laptop is optional

About the teacher:

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/9/8/e/6/600_294759142.jpeg

Sondra Willhite has been a database developer for the last decade. In this role she is responsible for database design and builds front-end interfaces, and she has a hand in many other database related tasks such troubleshooting performance and creating business intelligence reports. She's also been a GDI student and TA, and is very excited to be teaching her first GDI class! Find her on Twitter @sondrawi (https://twitter.com/sondrawi).

About the space:

The Department of Making + Doing is a hands-on, civic innovation workshop that provides the space, tools + knowledge to empower citizens to make + do great things in Philly. DM+D is a partnership of NextFab Studio, BreadBoard, The Hacktory, and Public Workshop.