Final project assignments

The goal of the final project is to design and implement a database and to implement a computer program that interacts with the database. You are free to choose the topic and content of the database and the functionality of the computer program. The concept of computer program will be interpreted broadly and could include some dynamic webpages that interact with your database. High-level requirements are as follows.

• The database should be designed using an EER model; it should contain some nontrivial entity types and relationship types.
• The database schema should be constructed using relation notation, as in section 6.1.5 of the textbook.
• The database should be implemented in MySQL.
• The computer program should demonstrate some interesting properties or capabilities of the database.
  • Most likely, it will be written in Java and will employ JDBC.
  • Alternatively, you can learn a little PHP and make some dynamic webpages that interact with your database. For some instructions and a demo, please go to the PHP demo page. [Added 4/16/2022]
• The final project can be completed individually or in teams of two. However, if you worked with a partner for the RP1 and RP2 assignments, you may not work with the same partner again. If you would like a partner but do not have a specific person in mind, the instructor will try to find one for you.
• An approximate guideline for the amount of effort to be devoted to the project is at least 20 hours of work.
  • We will be devoting the last two weeks of class time and homework time to the final project. (Exception: There will be some short mini-lectures during class time in the last two weeks, covering optional topics for which there is no assigned reading or homework.) Therefore, the final project should represent about 20 hours of work during class time and homework time in the last two weeks of the semester, plus additional time during the exam period.
  • If working in a team of two, both members of the team will receive the same grade. Exception: If there is a severe imbalance between contributions of team members, this should be discussed as early as possible with the instructor.
  • The expectation for total amount and quality of work will be higher for a team of two compared to individuals working alone.
• Optionally, you might consider using one or more advanced techniques in your project. These may include: transactions, prepared statements, stored procedures, or triggers. Additional reading of the textbook and/or MySQL documentation may be required for this.

If you have a particular interest in pursuing a project that does not meet the above requirements, feel free to discuss it with the instructor. (For example, if would like to employ a NoSQL database, the instructor will probably allow it—but you must obtain permission before starting.) One goal of the project is that you should work on a project that you are excited about, so do please discuss your ideas with the instructor.

The final project consists of four graded assignments labeled FP1-FP4. Each assignment is described separately below. Assignments should be submitted to Moodle. Submission of multiple files is permitted. Any appropriate file types and formats may be used. If working in a team, only one member of the team should submit to Moodle.

FP1 (30 points)

Submit a project proposal to Moodle. Describe the proposed content of the database and any ideas you may already have for the design. Describe some ideas of what functionality the computer program may have. The length of the proposal should be 300-500 words, although longer proposals will not be penalized. Images, figures, or diagrams may be included, but are not required.

FP2 (60 points)

Submit docments explaining the current design and content of your database and the status of the project. This should include:

• an ER or EER model, together with any necessary annotations;
• the database schema in relation notation (as in section 6.1.5 of the textbook);
• an SQL file consisting of a dump of the current version of your database;
• a brief status report explaining what has been achieved so far and what are the major steps remaining to complete the project—this should be 100-200 words in length, although longer reports will not be penalized.

Note that assignment FP2 is just a snapshot of the current design. You are permitted to change the design and content of your database after submitting FP2.

FP3 (120 points)

Give a presentation describing your project. The presentation should be approximately 10 minutes in length, with up to five minutes of questions from the audience afterwards. If at all possible, the presentation should include a live demo of your computer program interacting with your database. You must submit a copy of your slides to Moodle before the final presentations begin.

The grading of the presentation will be based on the quality of the presentation itself, not the underlying merit of the project. The underlying merit of the project will be graded in FP4.

To achieve an excellent grade, your presentation should excel on the following aspects. It should:

• meet the target length of ten minutes, plus or minus two minutes;
• clearly explain the design and content of your database;
• clearly demonstrate the functionality of your computer program interacting with your database;
• use clear and engaging visual materials (slides and/or whiteboard);
• employ large fonts that are very easy for the audience to read and use only a small number of words on every slide so that every word can be read by the audience;
• be delivered in a clear, engaging, and fluent voice;
• be delivered without reading verbatim from notes or slides (it is a good idea to use notes—just don’t read from them word for word).

FP4 (1000 points)

Submit docments explaining the current design and content of your database and the status of the project. This should include:

• an ER or EER model, together with any necessary annotations;
• the database schema in relation notation (as in section 6.1.5 of the textbook);
• an SQL file consisting of a dump of your database;
• the source code of your computer program;
• an experience report, described in more detail below.

The FP4 experience report

Your experience report should be 500-2000 words in length. It is not a formal report, but rather a description of your experience in completing the project. You can shape the report according to your own experience, but it would be a good idea to include some or all of the following:

• a description of how to run your computer program and what the computer program does;
• descriptions of any interesting features of your database design and computer program;
• descriptions of any difficulties you faced during the project and how you overcame them;
• descriptions of additional features that you would like to add if you had more time;
• discussion of social, legal, and ethical issues that could arise if your database application were released publicly and had a large number of users.

You can format the report in any reasonable fashion. Feel free to use bullet points, diagrams, and figures as appropriate. Clarity, technical correctness, and grammatical correctness are important.

FP4 grading

It is not possible to provide a formal rubric due to the widely varying nature of final projects. However, points will be awarded in three categories of roughly equal weight.

• Creativity: Is the database design and content interesting? Does it demonstrate creativity in how to represent complex relationships between entities? Does the computer program do something interesting? Does the experience report note some interesting aspects of the project, such as surprising results, challenges encountered, and social/legal/ethical issues? Does the project use any advanced techniques, such as transactions, prepared statements, stored procedures, or triggers?
• Effort: Is the total amount of effort commensurate with two weeks of course work? Does the length of the SQL and Java code represent an appropriate amount of work? Does the experience report convey an appropriate amount of work?
• Technical correctness and quality: Is the EER design correct? Is the translation into relation notation correct? Is the SQL code correct? Is the Java code correct? Is the SQL code and Java code commented appropriately? Does the experience report convey its ideas clearly, with correct grammar and technically correct statements?