A database is a collection of data that can be accessed by computers. The data are usually organized in a table or a file. A database can be divided into two parts: the data themselves and the software that manages the data.
The term “database” can refer to either the data themselves or to the software that manages the data. In practice, however, it is often used to refer to both the data and the software together.
Databases are used for many different purposes, including storing information about customers, products, employees, and so on. They are also used for decision support, OLAP (online analytical processing), and data mining.
There are many different types of databases, including relational databases, object-oriented databases, hierarchical databases, and so on. The type of database you need depends on the application you are using it for. For example, if you want to store information about customers and their orders, you would use a relational database; if you want to store information about objects in a three-dimensional space, you would use an object-oriented database; if you want to store information about a hierarchy of items such as an organizational chart or family tree, you would use a hierarchical database; and so on.