Create an ERD for your website database. Identify the entities, attributes, relationships and cardinalities

I'll be discussing about my ERD, which I made using draw.io, on this blog. Entity Relationship Diagrams, or ERDs, are graphical depictions of entities and the connections between them. It is a visual tool that is used in database design to show how entities—which might be people, things, concepts, or events—relate to one another.

 

(Draw.io)

The link between the consumer, the products, and the orders is depicted in the above figure. The order entity has properties like the total, the number of orders, and the payment method. Product name, primary key, and product ID are properties of the product entity. The customer entity, however, has the client's name, address, and email.

(Draw.io)

Using MS Excel, create a customer database with at least 10 entries, with screenshots to document and show your progress

 A customer database is an assortment of pertinent information pertaining to the data obtained from each of the present and future consumers. A client's name, phone number, address, email address, and other valuable customer information may be included in the customer database (Bhasin, 2021).

Salespeople utilise customer databases, which include vital information and personal information about clients, to customise sales campaigns, automate the sales funnel, and streamline the sales process for both small and large firms. In order to maximise customer pleasure and guarantee user involvement, it may also contain prior purchases and prospective consumer demands (Bhasin, 2021).

I developed a customer database using Microsoft Excel, which is seen in the image below.

A product database is a well-organized collection of data on the goods that a business offers or sells. It normally contains information on the items such as their names, their descriptions, their pictures, their prices, their SKU (stock keeping unit) numbers, their measurements, their weights, and other pertinent facts.

My product database table is displayed in the tables above. To calculate the total cost, total sales, and profit, I had to apply certain formulas. A image of a cell and the formula I employed are shown below.

Reference:

Bhasin, H. (2021) Customer database - meaning, examples, benefits and softwares, Marketing91. Available at: https://www.marketing91.com/customer-database/ (Accessed: March 7, 2023).

Product Table Illustration in Excel with Charts

In this blog, we'll examine my product table and use histogram analysis to verify the proffit and loss analysis.

(Product table)

(Stock quantity and stock sold)

(Profit per sale)

What ia an ERD. Define the RED related terms, including entities, attributes, cardinalities and relationships

 

(Freepik)

An ER Diagram, also known as an entity relationship diagram, is a flowchart that shows how "entities" link to one another inside a system. In software engineering, corporate information systems, education, and research, ER Diagrams are frequently used to build or troubleshoot relational databases (Dumitru, 2020).

Uses of entity relationship diagrams

Database design: An ERD, for instance, is frequently the first stage in identifying the requirements for an information systems project in software engineering. Later, it is employed to simulate a specific database or databases (Dumitru, 2020).

Database troubleshooting: To identify and fix issues with logic or deployment, ERDs are used to evaluate already-existing databases. Drawing the diagram should make it clear where things are going wrong (Dumitru, 2020).

Education: Planning databases that store relational information for educational reasons and subsequent retrieval can benefit from the use of ERDs (Dumitru, 2020).

Research: ERD diagrams can be crucial in creating effective databases for data analysis (Dumitru, 2020).

Components of ER Diagram

1. Entity

An item existing in the actual world that can be uniquely identified from other real-world things is referred to as an entity. Each entity possesses a set of characteristics or values for each of its qualities or attributes (Neha, 2021).

2. Attribute

In the database, each entity set is defined by a collection of attributes that specify the properties of each entity in that set (Neha, 2021). Other categories for the qualities include:

• Simple and Composite Attributes
• Single-valued and Multivalued Attributes
• Derived Attributes 

3. Relationship

Relationship explains how the entities that will be modelled are connected. For instance, the relationship between the teacher and the entity of the course is "teaches," meaning that the instructor teaches a certain course (Neha, 2021).

4. Mapping Cardinality

The amount of entities in one entity set that have relationships with entities in another entity set is known as mapping cardinality, sometimes known as the cardinality ratio (Neha, 2021).Assuming that there are two participating entity sets, A and B, the relationship between them can be:

• One-to-one
• One-to-many
• Many-to-one
• Many-to-many

Reference:

Dumitru, S. (2020) What is an entity relationship diagram (ERD)?, Medium. Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@soni.dumitru/what-is-an-entity-relationship-diagram-erd-13daee5b2a (Accessed: March 8, 2023).

Freepik (no date) Free stock photos, royalty free stock images & Copyright Free Pictures ... Available at: https://www.pexels.com/ (Accessed: March 8, 2023).

Neha, T. (2021) What is entity relationship diagram (ERD)? uses, components, symbols & examples, Binary Terms. Available at: https://binaryterms.com/entity-relationship-diagram.html (Accessed: March 8, 2023).

Write about your understanding of databases. Explore the database advantages and write about database concepts such as primary and foreign keys

 

(Freepik)

A database refers to a collection of logically connected information arranged such that it may be easily accessible, maintained, and updated. A database management system often controls how databases are accessed electronically from a computer system (DBMS). The person in charge of administering databases, including database security, access control, backup, and disaster recovery, is known as a database administrator (DBA) (Taylor, 2023).

To better comprehend data, especially the connection between data and databases, it is helpful to be familiar with a few important terminology.

1. Fields: Theese are the most thorough information regarding events, persons, objects, and transactions that may be found in a database (Taylor, 2023).

2. Records: They are a grouping of connected fields (Taylor, 2023).

3. Tables: are a group of connected records with a specific table name (Taylor, 2023).

4. Database: A database is an assortment of connected tables (Taylor, 2023).

Benefits of Database 

1. Enhanced data security and sharing

Database management solutions enable users to safely, efficiently, and swiftly transfer data within an organisation. A data management system offers quicker access to more accurate data by quickly responding to database requests (Pizzo, 2022).

2. Effective data integration

Putting in place a database management system can help you create a more complete picture of your business operations by making it clear how activities in one area of the company influence areas in other areas. What was formerly done entirely manually may now be totally automated and is more precise (Pizzo, 2022).

3. An increase in productivity

By enabling individuals to spend more time on high-value tasks and strategic objectives and less time manually scouring lists and cleaning up data, deploying a DBMS often increases productivity (Pizzo, 2022).

A Few types of DBMS

Document Databases- this form of non-relational database is made for the purpose of storing and retrieving data in documents that resemble JSON (Hooda, 2019).

ER model databases – Entity-relationship modelling, often known as ER modelling, aids in methodically examining data needs for creating well-designed databases (Hooda, 2019).

Graph databases – A form of NoSQL database, a Graph database replace tables with graphs with vertices and edges. The edges show the connection between two nodes, whereas the vertices represent things, such people or places (Hooda, 2019).

NoSQL databases – A NoSQL database is a great alternative to the conventional relational database for working with massive dispersed data sets (Hooda, 2019).

The basic concepts and features of DBMS

Data Models: A database system is abstractly represented by a data model. A database's schema, or the arrangement and structure of how data is physically kept, is used to design and implement the database or specify its schema (Abdullahi, 2023).

Query languages: DBMSs have their own particular languages that database managers use to develop databases, much as programming languages are used to create software programmes. Users can search and change data contained in databases using what are known as query languages. Structured query language is the most often used query language (SQL) (Abdullahi, 2023).

File organization and indexing: Better storage space usage, faster retrieval, and slower access all depend on well organised database files (Abdullahi, 2023).

Key fields: A database table's rows are each uniquely identified by a key field, often known as a primary key. There can only be one primary key per table, and it needs to be distinct across all tables and views. Natural keys and auto-incrementing fields are two more names for primary keys. Every time a new record is added to a table, the primary key's value is automatically increased by 1 each time (Abdullahi, 2023).

Candidate key: In a Relational database, the candidate key is a criterion for defining a relationship between two or more tables. Any table that makes reference to the candidate keys must contain them. A candidate key typically consists of distinct features and values that are constant during data storage. They aid in group definition (Abdullahi, 2023).

Reference:

Abdullahi, A. (2023) What is a DBMS? basic concepts explained, CIO Insight. Available at: https://www.cioinsight.com/big-data/what-is-a-dbms/ (Accessed: March 8, 2023).

Hooda, S. (2019) What are the advantages of a database management system?, GoSkills.com. GoSkills. Available at: https://www.goskills.com/Development/Resources/Advantages-of-database-management-system (Accessed: March 8, 2023).

Pizzo, M. (2022) Benefits of Database Management Systems (DBMS): ZoomInfo, Pipeline Blog. Available at: https://pipeline.zoominfo.com/operations/6-benefits-of-using-database-management-systems-dbms (Accessed: March 8, 2023).

Taylor, S. (2023) Database, Corporate Finance Institute. Available at: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/data-science/database/ (Accessed: March 8, 2023).

Freepik (no date) Free stock photos, royalty free stock images & Copyright Free Pictures ... Available at: https://www.pexels.com/ (Accessed: March 8, 2023).

Document the process of creating/editing your Wix website contact form, justifying thoughts, process and decision making

 Home page: 

Welcome to my online pharmacy's main page! Here, customers can quickly and easily access all of our services and products. My mission is to give my clients trustworthy, quick access to inexpensive healthcare and drug supplies. At the home page my navigation menu is located at the top of the page. Customers may search for certain pharmaceuticals, explore our items by category, or read more about our services here. Our customer service staff is accessible by phone or live chat every single day if you have any queries or issues. 

I added a variety of services in addition to our goods to assist customers in managing their health. With the help of our online doctor service, customers may speak with a qualified doctor while relaxing in their own home. We also provide pharmaceutical treatment management, prescription refills, and other services.

The security and privacy of our customers are very important to us. In addition, to guarantee their effectiveness and safety, we only use recognised manufacturers and suppliers for all of our goods. I added some of our clients that provide some of our products and invest with us. 

Contact Page:

A customer may forget the recommended prescription and want an immediate response without physically visiting the pharmacy, thus the contact page on the website is crucial. I provided many contact options on my website. The live chart, where a consumer may wait for a prompt response from customer support, was the first thing I created. The FAQ may provide a consumer with a prompt response, which is the second method of contact. Finally, a contact form is available for customers to fill out with their address and phone number. Thereafter, you'll receive a response by email and SMS. The contact page also includes our stores' phone numbers.

Overall, we give customers a simple and easy approach to get medicine and related materials. We also provide customers with tools to manage their drug regimens, such as dose schedules and reminders for refills.

Analyse and compare different examples of product Pages

(Freepik)

A product page is a web page that offers comprehensive details on a particular products or service. It usually functions as a digital storefront for the goods and is a component of an online store or e-commerce website.

A product page's principal objective is to give prospective buyers all the information they require to make a purchasing choice. It need to have a pleasing aesthetic, be simple to use, and provide succinct details on the product. The product page ought to have the following information: a product title, description, photos, price, and any other information, such the item's size, weight, materials, and characteristics.

I'll examine and compare the product websites of two pharmaceutical retailers. The first one I'll be looking at is Boots.

Boots

The layout of the boots product page is seen in the accompanying image. They really do arrange their things in a certain way. All the items were organised into several categories. A smart band, for instance, would fall under the category of electronics. Customers are encouraged as a result of how simple it is to utilise the app and make purchases.

The second one that I will be looking at is Lloyds Pharmacy 

Lloyds

The boots and lloyds pharmacy both have comparable product pages. Even said, there are certain distinctions between them. For instance, unlike boots, the Lloyds page begins with goods that are currently on sale. Together with conventional pharmacy services, Lloyds Pharmacy also offers a variety of therapeutic treatments, including flu shots, blood pressure checks, cholesterol checks, and programmes to help people quit smoking. Together with conventional pharmacy services, Lloyds Pharmacy also offers a variety of therapeutic treatments, including flu shots, blood pressure checks, cholesterol checks, and programmes to help people quit smoking.

Reference:

Images de fond – téléchargement gratuit Sur Freepik (2020) Freepik. Available at: https://fr.freepik.com/photos-vecteurs-libre/fond (Accessed: February 24, 2023).

Research about SDLC, discussing it's methodology, benefits and key stages.

(Freepik)

The term "Software Development Life Cycle" (SDLC) refers to a technique for producing high-quality software that includes well-defined procedures. The phases of software development that the SDLC approach focuses on in depth are as follows:

• Requirement analysis
• Planning
• Software design such as architectural design
• Software development
• Testing
• Deployment

The Software Development Life Cycle, often known as SDLC, is a method for creating software that is of the greatest quality and least expensive in the shortest amount of time. The well-organized phases of the SDLC allow an organisation swiftly develop high-quality software that is well-tested and prepared for usage in production (Altvater, 2021).

(Clark, 2023)

Iterations may be used within the software development life cycle:

• Planning: Planning is the stage of requirement analysis when you look at the feasibility of generating the product, income potential, the cost of production, the demands of the users, etc., and the planning stage where you collect requirements from your client or stakeholders (Clark, 2023).

• Design: Starting with the software specifications, a design strategy known as the Design Specification is created in this step of the SDLC. After seeing this strategy, all parties involved share their opinions and comments. It's critical to have a strategy for gathering and including stakeholder feedback in this document (Altvater,  2021).

• Development: This stage of the SDLC might take a while. It's crucial to establish a clear timeframe and set of objectives so that both the software developers and you can monitor the development process' progress. When particular tests are done to make sure there are no serious issues, the development stage and testing stage may occasionally overlap (Clark, 2023).

• Code Test: We check for flaws and shortcomings at this point. We address such problems up until the product satisfies the initial requirements. Simply said, we want to make that the code complies with the specified standards (Altvater,  2021).

• Deployment: Deploying the programme to the production environment at this point will allow users to begin utilising the product. Yet, a lot of businesses opt to launch the product across several environments first, such testing or staging. This enables all interested parties to test the product safely before putting it on the market. Also, this enables any last-minute errors to be discovered before to the product's release (Altvater,  2021). 

• Maintenance: Users may discover faults and problems in the maintenance phase that were missed during the first testing phase. In order to improve user retention and experience, these problems must be corrected. In rare circumstances, they might result in the software development life cycle being restarted at step one. For any additional features you might wish to include in your upcoming release or upgrade, the SDLC phases can be restarted (Clark, 2023).

In order to accomplish more steps, I utilized some of the phases from the creation of my Wix website.

Phase of planning: 

• I established the project's goals and scope
• I created a project timetable and plan.

Analysis phase: 

• I compiled the requirements and analyised them to ascertain the needs of the user and the company.
• Created a functional specs paper outlining the features and functioning of the website.
• Made prototypes and wireframes to show the website's structure and design.

Design Phase: 

• Designed the visual look and feel of the website, including the branding and colour strategy.
• Created the website's navigation and architecture.
• Created the user interface and user experience design for the website.

Development: 

• I created the required integrations with third-party services, such as shipping suppliers or payment gateways.
• I checked the functionality and if the performance meet the requirements.

Testing:

• I completely tested the website's speed, usability, and operation, to make sure the website satisfies users' requirements and expectations, do user acceptability testing.

Deployment: 

• The website was launched in a live environment

Reference:

Altvater, A. (2021) What is SDLC? understand the software development life cycle, Stackify. Available at: https://stackify.com/what-is-sdlc/ (Accessed: February 24, 2023).

Clark, H. (2023) 6 stages of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), The Product Manager. The Product Manager. Available at: https://theproductmanager.com/topics/software-development-life-cycle/ (Accessed: March 5, 2023).

The largest platform of free graphic resources in the world- freepik (no date) Freepik Company. Available at: https://www.freepikcompany.com/freepik (Accessed: February 24, 2023).