This page lists a variety of resources related to the course, including answers to issues frequently encountered by students, diagramming tools, and learning resources. Please contact the instructor if you have suggestions for additional resources to include.

Blackboard

A common issue encountered by students is how to access feedback for assignments in Blackboard. The following instructions may prove helpful:

To access feedback and grade information, select the test in the content area or My Grades. On the View Attempts page, select the grade link in the Calculated Grade column to access the test, your answers, and any instructor feedback. (Grades and feedback from Blackboard Help)

Contact the instructor if you are unable to access feedback. There should always be a comment when anything less than full credit is awarded so you’ll know why points were deducted and how to improve moving forward.

ER diagrams

Knowing how irritating it is to fix mistakes when drawing a diagram by hand, I encourage you to use a tool to create entity-relationship (ER) diagrams.

Some of the tools that I’ve used in the past are as follows:

  • draw.io: draw.io’s mission is to “provide free, high quality diagramming software for everyone” based on open source technology. Most of the ER diagrams on this website were created using this web application.
  • Microsoft Visio: If available (e.g., thanks to a site license), then definitely worth checking out. Visio popularized the style of diagrams used in the second edition of Fundamentals of Database Management Systems ([Gillenson 2011]).
  • yEd: I’ve used this tool for a number of projects in the past and have been pleased with its ability to provide good graph layouts. An online version is also available: https://www.yworks.com/yed-live/.

You are also welcome to search for other diagramming tools. If you do use a tool, be sure to mention it in your documentation statement (and I’d also be interested in what you thought of it – the good, the bad, and the ugly).

SQL

Without a doubt, practice is critical to mastering the Structured Query Language (SQL). While you can certainly create your own database and execute queries against it, the following online resources offer a more structured approach to learning:

All these sites offer interactive exercises to practice writing SQL statements within a web browser. I recommend working through one or even two of these tutorials to cement what we cover in class.

For anyone curious about SQL syntax, PostgreSQL’s documentation of SQL Commands is the most comprehensive that I’ve found. Granted, the amount of detail can be overwhelming at times, but it is extraordinarily thorough, including examples, and explicitly indicates deviations from the SQL standard and other popular relational database management systems. I do not expect this resource to be the first that you consult, but it is excellent when you have specific questions.

Please contact me if you use any of these resources. I’d love to know what you think of them, especially if they’re a useful supplement as you learn SQL.