Introduction to Databases and Data Mining

Databases and other collections of data are everywhere. Retailers use data about customers and their purchases to make decisions that increase profits. Researchers analyze data about the human genome to find treatments for diseases. Policymakers analyze socioeconomic data to gain insights that guide their decisions. Online music and video services perform data mining to deliver customized recommendations. How does all this work? CS 105 explores the ways in which collections of data are organized, stored, and analyzed. Topics include relational databases and the SQL query language, the writing of simple programs to process data, data visualization and the graphical display of data, and data-mining techniques for discovering patterns in data. Applications from a variety of domains (including business, the arts, the life sciences, and the social sciences) are used to illustrate the course's key concepts.