Authors:
Jalal Kawash
and
Levi Meston
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Keyword(s):
Computer Science Education, Tools for Education, Database Systems, SQL.
Abstract:
Relational algebra and relational calculus are often taught as part of the topics of a typical database course in Computer Science and Engineering degrees. The teaching of these theoretical languages not only provide the students with the theoretical foundation for learning SQL, but also serve as a vehicle for students to sharpen their problem solving skills. SQL, the most commonly used database language, also serves as a substantial part of any course on databases. SQL was supposed to be an implementation of relational calculus; however, the language ended up being a hybrid implementation of both the calculus and the algebra. One challenge that faces students and educators alike is that unlike SQL where queries can be tested and validated with existing databases, the calculus and the algebra remain theoretical with very limited support for such testing or validation. In addition, not all theoretical constructs in both the algebra and the calculus have a straightforward implementatio
n in SQL. After discussing these challenges, we make the case in this paper for the need to better computer tools that support the teaching and learning of these two theoretical query languages. We also present the features/objectives of such a tool that we are currently developing.
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