Database

Definitions

1. An organised, persistent collection of data together with the software, a database management system (DBMS), that stores it, queries it, and keeps it consistent under concurrent use. The relational model, proposed by Edgar F. Codd in 1970, organises data into tables of rows and columns queried with SQL, and systems such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and Oracle implement it with transactions that guarantee ACID properties: atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability. Indexes, query planners, and write-ahead logs are what let a database answer questions quickly and survive crashes. NoSQL systems relax parts of that model for particular workloads: document stores such as MongoDB, key-value stores such as Redis, wide-column stores such as Cassandra, and graph databases such as Neo4j. In casual use, database often names the DBMS itself, as in running a database server, rather than the data it holds.

   In plain English: A system that stores and organizes large amounts of data so programs can quickly find, add, update, or delete information.

   Example: "Our database is the source of truth. Unfortunately, the truth is that our data is a mess."

Related Terms

• stored procedure
• trigger
• data lake
• data warehouse
• Clause
• Dialect
• Django
• Laravel
• Spring
• Local Storage
• Lateral Join
• Push Notification
• Configuration File
• Depth-First Search
• File Descriptor
• File Handle
• File Lock
• File System
• File Watcher
• Flat File
• Full-Text Search
• Input Stream
• Knex
• Request Context

Collections Including This Term

• Backend Fundamentals
• Database Terminology

Deep Dives Covering This Term

• A Brief History of Databases
• Vector Databases Explained
• Understanding AI Agents