What is a relational database?

Imagine you are working in a company that sells various products online. As the business grows, you need an efficient way to keep track of product inventory, customer orders, and shipping information. This is where a relational database comes into play. 

A relational database is a system for organizing and managing data, designed to store information in tables consisting of rows and columns. Each row represents a unique record, and each column contains a specific attribute or piece of information about that record. The key aspect of a relational database is that it allows you to establish relationships between tables, linking related data to help you answer complex questions and gain valuable insights. 

What is the Primary Purpose of a Relational Database?

The primary purpose of a relational database is to enable users to efficiently store, access, and manipulate data while maintaining its integrity and consistency. They are ideal for managing large amounts of structured data, allowing you to perform powerful queries and analyses that help drive informed business decisions. 

To better understand the concept, let’s use an analogy. Think of a relational database as a library, where each table represents a bookshelf. Each shelf contains books (rows) that share a common theme or category (columns). In the library, you can quickly find a book by knowing its location on the shelf, and you can even find related books by understanding the connections between shelves. Similarly, in a relational database, you can locate and retrieve specific pieces of data by knowing their position in the table and their relationship to other data points. 

Relational Database in E-Commerce Example

Let’s use an e-commerce platform to illustrate how relational databases are used. The e-commerce platform may have separate tables for customers, products, orders, and shipping information. Each table contains specific data about its subject, while relationships between tables allow you to efficiently retrieve, for example, all orders made by a particular customer or all products in a specific category. Utilizing a relational database allows the e-commerce platform to quickly access and analyze data to make informed decisions, streamline operations, and improve customer experience.