"what's all the fuss" about databases? How are databases used in the "real world"? Why are they so important

Answer 1

DMV records of licensed operators and vehicles
Medical records at your local hospital
All of your insurance policies
All of your credit cards
All of your banking records
All of your tax records
All of your utility accounts
Your phone bill and phone records
All of your school records

This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you can't figure out the importance of databases (and the need for security) then there's nothing that I can do to help you.

Answer 2

Databases are great places to store information and to look it up quickly. For example, my brother works for a company that builds control panels. He has a database set up that lists all the parts the company uses to build the panels (the wire, the terminal blocks, the switches, the push-buttons, the relays, etc.), all broken out by manufacturer and design specifications. Now, think about this company preparing a job quote to indicate how much it's going to cost for a panel to be built for, say, Daimler-Chrysler -- since my brother has the database set up, he just plugs the information into the quote and the computer figures out how much all the parts cost. Imagine how long it would take to put all that information together if he had to go through every supplier catalog, look up each part, enter the cost, and then add it all up at the end. That's just one example of how databases make our lives easier...

Answer 3

They are the just about the most efficient way to store any type of information. Think about your checkbook as a database. Let say you write a check but like me forget to record it. In a database if you know the check number (which you can easily find by looking at your checks) you can go right to the information. if all you had was a spreadsheet or a static list you would have to search every entry until you found what you wanted. My analogy stinks, but i hope you get the gist of it.

Answer 4

Databases hold information. Instead of remember things yourself, a database is a placeholder for data. I use databases everyday to store contact information about customers like first name, last name, address, city, state, zip, etc.

Ask yourself this. How would you keep a record of 1,000 customers? That's what a database is for. Without it, you would have to write all those customers to a text file and that's not cool in my book.

Answer 5

I like that first answer... you're on one right now! And, it's true! In fact, you're on several! You're on Yahoo questions which is database-driven... you're on the internet which is database-driven... In fact, your computer, itself, is database-driven! Anywhere information is stored on a computer, it needs to be found again, and to do that it stores it in a database.

Answer 6

Any large amount of data is in a database. Get it? Data-base. Libraries especially use them. And the DMV, like that guy said, and a huge amount of other things. I use one myself for storing data and easily insterting and reading that data.

Answer 7

Are you trying to write a report for school?

Answer 8

You're on one right now you idiot.