Final Thoughts
This class has been challenging but fun. I had never used databases before, yet by week 3 I was expected to build a database from scratch with my team. I understand why some struggled with the course as it really felt "sink or swim" at times. Fortunately I was able to apply my previous experience and knowledge to help me better visualize the material each week. Databases are just the practical side to some of the data structures we've been exposed to, and I am now looking forward to my data science class.
My primary takeaway from this class is simply how to use databases within my applications. I really enjoyed the week 4 assignment (Java web app). It opened my eyes to exactly how I can link SQL to my Java code (although at the moment I do not want to host a web server). That by itself is invaluable to me. I also really enjoyed using JavaScript with MongoDB. Map-reduce, specifically, is an interesting concept that I did not know about and am glad that I was able to experience. Finally, I think that learning about database designs (star schemas, relational schemas, normalization) is extremely valuable because in the future I will possibly have to create my own database from scratch.
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