Technical rounds of interviews are kind of tricky and a tough nut to crack, however having a clear view of the content will make you totally prepared and ready to land your dream job.
In this newsletter, we will look into one of the most important and frequently asked topics in almost every technical interview - Database Management Systems (DBMS).
But why do we need to study DBMS in the first place? Believe it or not, this is one of the frequently asked questions related to database management in interviews and the answer lies in the fact that almost every organization uses large databases and it is crucial that every programmer or software developer should know how to access, update and efficiently manage this database.
There are tons of resources available all over the internet along with traditional routes like textbooks to understand and apply the core concepts of DBMS. However, they are quite unstructured. So, let us cover all the important topics that one should be completely comfortable with regarding database management.
Checklist of Topics to Be Covered
Database Management Systems Basics
- The architecture of Database Management Systems
- Database Querying Languages (DCL, DDL, DML, TCL)
- Data Abstraction Levels
- Entity Relationship Models
Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)
- Relational Operations
- Constraints and Schema Diagrams
- Relational Algebra and Calculus
SQL (Structured Query Language)
- SQL Keywords
- Aggregate Functions
- Nested and Correlated Subqueries
Advanced SQL
- Normalization
- Joins in SQL
- Triggers, Cursors
Transaction Management
- ACID Properties of a Transaction
- Schedules and Serializability
- Deadlocks
- Concurrency Control Methods
Recovery Systems and Storage
- Indexing in DBMS
- Recovery Algorithms
- File Structures
- B+ Trees
Resources
- Geeks for Geeks Series on DBMS
This is a very well-organized one-stop link to get all your fundamentals cleared.
- MCQs on DBMS by Sanfoundry
Many online coding rounds are filled with Multiple Choice Questions on DBMS. Sanfoundry’s list of MCQ-based questions is recommended for quick and easy revision.
- Database Management Systems by Johannes Gehrke and Raghu Ramakrishnan
Another standard textbook has a lot of exercises to improve your problem-solving skills and query writing. The solutions to the exercises are available in this link.
- Quick Reference Guide by Tutorials Point
This is a quick reference guide prepared by Tutorials Point for last-minute revisions.
Tips for DBMS Interview Questions
- Provide Sufficient examples based on real-life applications.
For example, Normalization involves breaking up the large database into smaller databases to avoid data redundancy and duplication. This can be talked about by storing details of employees in an organization. Having too much amount of information like multiple phone numbers can cause a single table to be overloaded. This can be avoided through normalization.
- Practice a lot of questions based on queries. Queries using nested expressions, correlated expressions, and joins can seem confusing. By going through a lot of different types of questions, we can identify patterns and write more efficient queries to retrieve data.
- Try to implement a simple database project based on a real-life database, using concepts like normalization, ER Diagrams, triggers, cursors, etc. Not only will this help you understand these topics much better, but it will also serve as a unique project for your resume. For example Bus Reservation systems or Library Management systems.
Database Management Systems are very important for every budding software engineer and developer.
However, to finally crack your dream tech role, you need to get good at the following things:
- Problem-solving in Data Structures and Algorithms
- CS fundamentals with DBMS, Computer Networks, and OOPS
- System Design
- Product Development
Becoming interview-ready in all these skills can be a lot easier if you follow a structured and mentored path.
This structure, guidance, and mentoring are what Bosscoder Academy provides and has helped 300+ engineers upskill and achieve their dream tech roles.
In case you want to explore more about this, visit our website
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