Course Name
Relational Database Management Systems
Course Hand-out · CSC2131
RDBMS Lab — Syllabus & Evaluation, in Plain Terms
Everything in the official course hand-out that actually changes what you do week to week: how your final mark is built, what each of the twelve labs covers, and what is expected of you outside scheduled hours.
01Course at a Glance
The essentials, straight from the official hand-out.
Course Code
CSC2131
Programme
B. Tech. (CSE), Semester III
Structure (L-T-P-C)
0 Lecture · 0 Tutorial · 2 Practical · 1 Credit
Session
July – November 2026
Course Coordinators
Dr. Satyabrata Roy, Dr. Lav Upadhyay
What this course is for
A hands-on lab course in relational database management systems. The aim is to turn you into a working database application developer — comfortable modeling data, writing SQL confidently, and using procedural extensions like PL/SQL, cursors, and triggers to implement real business logic, not just answer exam questions about them.
02How You Are Evaluated
Your final mark out of 100 is built from four components. Internal assessment (60 marks total) is entirely under your control through the semester; the End Term Exam (40 marks) is a single closed-book assessment at the end.
100total marks, split across four components
30
10
20
40
30 Continuous Evaluation (3 evaluations)
10 Oracle Academy Certification
20 Lab Project (two cases)
40 End Term Exam (closed book)
Internal assessment (Continuous Evaluation + Certification + Lab Project) accounts for 60 of the 100 marks — more than half your grade is earned before the End Term Exam even happens.
Continuous Evaluation — 30 marks
Three separate evaluations run across the semester, spaced out to cover different stretches of the syllabus. Each evaluation is worth 10 marks, split three ways:
Record
Your lab record for that session — the queries and observations you documented.
Execution
Whether your solution actually runs and produces the correct result on the day.
Viva
A short oral check that you understand what you wrote, not just that it works.
3 evaluations × 10 marks each = 30 marks. Missing one costs you a full 10 marks directly — there is no single large substitute for consistent performance across the semester.
Oracle Academy Certification — 10 marks
A "Database Programming with SQL" certification through Oracle Academy. This is external, self-paced, and worth completing early rather than leaving until it competes with project deadlines.
Lab Project — 20 marks, in two cases
| Case | What is submitted | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Case 1 | Project report | 5 |
| Live demo | 15 | |
| Case 2 | Project report | 5 |
| Project database | 5 | |
| PL/SQL certification | 10 |
End Term Exam — 40 marks
A single closed-book summative assessment covering the full syllabus. This is the only component not distributed across the semester, so it is worth treating the Continuous Evaluation sessions as genuine preparation for it rather than separate, disposable tasks.
03Course Outcomes
What you should be able to do by the end of the course — each outcome is what a specific stretch of the syllabus is building toward.
| CO | By the end of this course, you will be able to… |
|---|---|
CSC2131.1 | Construct and model relational databases using Entity-Relationship (ER) diagrams, and apply normalization techniques. |
CSC2131.2 | Create a database schema using Data Definition Language (DDL). |
CSC2131.3 | Analyse and assess complex queries using Data Manipulation Language. |
CSC2131.4 | Apply transaction control commands and manage user privileges for database security and consistency. |
CSC2131.5 | Demonstrate application of PL/SQL, cursors, and triggers for developing business logic. |
04Syllabus
One continuous arc, from modeling data to writing procedural logic against it.
Modeling & Design
Databases and data modelling, refining the model, ER-to-relational conversion, normalization techniques.
Schema & Data
Database schema creation, Data Definition Language (DDL), Data Manipulation Language (DML).
Querying
SQL retrieval, aggregate functions, GROUP BY / HAVING, nested queries and subqueries, joins (inner, outer, self), set operations, views, indexing.
Control & Logic
Transaction Control Language (TCL), user privileges and access control, PL/SQL procedures, functions, cursors, and triggers.
Applied & Beyond
A mini project built with RDBMS tools end to end, plus an introduction to NoSQL as a point of contrast.
05Week-by-Week Schedule
Twelve lab sessions, each building directly on the last. Sessions marked with ★ are delivered by an industry practitioner rather than the regular course instructor.
| # | Topic | Related CO |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ER DiagramsDrawing ER diagrams (ERDplus / Dia); mapping entities, attributes, and keys to a relational model | CSC2131.1 |
| 2 | Introduction to SQLRelational database technology; anatomy of a SQL statement | CSC2131.1, .2 |
| 3 | DDLCreating tables, data types, modifying a table | CSC2131.2 |
| 4 | ConstraintsNOT NULL, UNIQUE, PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, CHECK; managing constraints | CSC2131.2 |
| 5 | DMLINSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DEFAULT values, MERGE, multi-table inserts | CSC2131.3 |
| 6 | SELECT & WHEREColumns, rows, limiting results, comparison operators | CSC2131.3 |
| 7 | WHERE, ORDER BY & FunctionsLogical precedence, sorting, COUNT / DISTINCT / NVL / AVG / MAX / MIN, GROUP BY / HAVING | CSC2131.3 |
| 8 | JoinsCross, natural, inner, self, equijoin, Cartesian product, outer joins | CSC2131.3 |
| 9 | SubqueriesSingle-row, multiple-row, and correlated subqueries | CSC2131.3 |
| 10 | ViewsCreating, modifying through, and managing views | CSC2131.3 |
| 11 ★ | PrivilegesControlling user access; granting and revoking object privileges | CSC2131.4 |
| 12 ★ | TCL, Triggers & ProceduresRollback, commit, savepoints, triggers, stored procedures, database transactions | CSC2131.5 |
Every session builds toward one of the three Continuous Evaluations and doubles as direct preparation for the End Term Exam — there is no separate "exam syllabus" distinct from what the labs already cover.
06Beyond the Lab
Regulatory guidelines require 30 notional hours of engagement per credit outside scheduled sessions. For this 1-credit lab, that is met through activities like these — none of them separately graded, all of them directly useful for the Continuous Evaluation, Certification, and Project components above.
| Activity | Level | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Academic clubs, technical competitions, or seminars | Medium | 10 |
| Mini research projects, documentation, or presentations | High | 6 |
| One-on-one remedial sessions, tutorials, or simplified handouts | Low | 4 |
| Visiting labs outside scheduled hours for extended practice | Medium | 4 |
| Online courses, MOOCs, or certifications (Oracle, NPTEL) | Medium | 2 |
| Hackathons or innovation challenges | High | 2 |
| Study circles or peer-assisted learning on SQL / PL-SQL problems | Medium | 2 |
- Struggling with the basics? One-on-one remedial sessions and peer-assisted debugging of DDL/DML queries are explicitly built into the course design — use them early rather than after a session goes badly.
- Want to go further? Mini research projects on normalization, indexing, or NoSQL vs. RDBMS, and hackathons involving database design, are the high-difficulty track the hand-out calls out by name.
07Textbooks & References
Text Books
- Silberschatz, Korth, H. F., & Sudarshan, S., Database System Concepts, 7th ed., McGraw Hill Education, 2021.
- Elmasri, R., & Navathe, S. B., Fundamentals of Database Systems, 7th ed., Pearson Education, 2017.
Reference Books
- Alan Beaulieu, Learning SQL: Generate, Manipulate, and Retrieve Data, 3rd ed. (Greyscale Indian Edition), O'Reilly Media, 2020.
- Sadalage, P. J., & Fowler, M., NoSQL Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Emerging World of Polyglot Persistence, Addison-Wesley, 2012.
- I. Bayross, SQL, PL/SQL, 4th ed., BPB Publications, 2025.
- C. J. Date, Database Systems, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi, 2022.