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Caltech Course Catalog / 2025-2026 Catalog / Courses 2025-26 / Relational Databases

CS/IDS 121 - Relational Databases

CS/IDS 121

Relational Databases

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
Prerequisites: CS 1 or equivalent.

Introduction to the basic theory and usage of relational database systems. It covers the relational data model, relational algebra, and the Structured Query Language (SQL). The course introduces the basics of database schema design and covers the entity-relationship model, functional dependency analysis, and normal forms. Additional topics include other query languages based on the relational calculi, data-warehousing and dimensional analysis, writing and using stored procedures, working with hierarchies and graphs within relational databases, and an overview of transaction processing and query evaluation. Extensive hands-on work with SQL databases.

Instructor: Ordentlich
Published Date: Aug. 28, 2025