This page provides a public overview of the course structure and schedule.
Instructor: Abdelghny Orogat
Course: EGEN5208W Databases for Soft Engineers
Department: Department of Systems and Computer Engineering
Institution: Carleton University
| Component | Description | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Quizzes (4) | Four short quizzes assessing core database concepts covered throughout the term. | 27% |
| Attendance & Participation | Attendance and participation during lectures. | 3% |
| Individual Final Project | Design and implementation of a database-backed software system completed individually. | 40% |
| Seminar Presentation & Report | Individual 20-minute seminar presentation and an individual PDF report documenting the topic. | 30% |
| Total | 100% |
For official class times and locations, consult Carleton Central.
| Week | Date | Topic | Quiz |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 8 | Database Introduction and Course Outline + Relational Algebra; Tuple Relational Calculus | |
| 2 | Jan 15 | SQL - DDL and DML; SQL (DQL: SELECT-FROM-WHERE-...) | |
| 3 | Jan 22 | SQL (DQL: AGR()-GROUP BY-HAVING-SETS-...); SQL (DQL: Complex Queries and SubQueries) | |
| 4 | Jan 29 | SQL (DQL: VIEWS-INDEX-FUNCTIONS-...); Entity-Relationship (ER) Model | Quiz 1 |
| 5 | Feb 5 | Entity-Relationship (ER) Mapping; Functional Dependencies and Normalization Theory | |
| 6 | Feb 12 | Application Development; Project Discussion · Final Project Release | Quiz 2 |
| 7 | Feb 19 | Winter Break | |
| 8 | Feb 26 | Physical Storage, Data Storage Structures and Indexing; Query Processing, Query Optimization | Quiz 3 |
| 9 | Mar 5 | NoSQL - MongoDB Database (Document based DB); NoSQL - Graph-Oriented Database (Directed Edge-Labelled Graph [SPARQL]) | |
| 10 | Mar 12 | NoSQL - Graph-Oriented Database (Property Graph [Neo4J-CYPHER]); NoSQL - Vector Databases for AI Applications (Milvus) | |
| 11 | Mar 19 | NoSQL - Key-Value Stores Beyond Caching (Redis, DynamoDB); NoSQL - Time-Series Databases (InfluxDB, TimescaleDB) | Quiz 4 |
| 12 | Mar 26 | Databases in Software Architecture & Design; ORM, Tooling, and Developer Productivity | |
| 13 | Apr 2 | Performance, Scalability, and Reliability; Security, Privacy, and Responsible Data Management · Final Project Due |
Weeks 10–13 are dedicated to student-led seminar presentations. Each topic is presented by 4 students, with 17–20 minutes per presentation.