1.

Hierarchy of data
Data Hierarchy refers to the systematic organization of data, often in a hierarchical form. Data
organization involves fields, records, files and so on.

• BIT

All data is stored in a computer's memory or storage devices in the form of binary digits
or bits. A bit can be either 'ON' of 'OFF' representing 1 or 0.

• BYTE

is a group of 8 bits. One byte can represent one character or, in different contexts, other
data such as a sound, part of a picture etc.

• FIELD

is a group of characters. e.g. data held about a person may be split into many fields
including ID Number, Surname, Initials, Title, Street, Town, etc

• RECORD

is a group of fields holding all the information about one person or item

• FILE

a collection of records. A stock file will contain a record for each item of stock, and so on.

• DATABASE

may consist of many different files, linked in such a way that information can be
retrieved from several files at once.

4. Database approach to data management

Database approaches to data storage support the sharing of data across multiple applications with
multiple users. Databases are structured in a way that is meaningful to an organization. For
example, if an organization maintains information on suppliers and the geographic areas they
service, there would be a link in the database between the suppliers and geographic areas.
Databases reduce data redundancy.

A Database Management System (DBMS) is the software that handles all database accesses. A DBMS
presents a logical view of the data to the users. How this data is stored and retrieved is hidden from the
users. A DBMS ensures that the data is consistent across the database and controls who can access what
data.

5. Advantages of database approach

One can characterize a DBMS as an "attribute management system" where attributes are small chunks of
information that describe something. For example, "color" is an attribute of a car. The value of the
attribute may be a color such as "red", "blue" or "silver".

Alternatively, and especially in connection with the relational model of database management, the
relation between attributes drawn from a specified set of domains can be seen as being primary. For
instance, the database might indicate that a car that was originally "red" might fade to "pink" in time,
provided it was of some particular "make" with an inferior paint job. Such higher arity relationships
provide information on all of the underlying domains at the same time, with none of them being
privileged above the others.

Throughout recent history specialized databases have existed for scientific, geospatial, imaging,
document storage and like uses. Functionality drawn from such applications has lately begun appearing
in mainstream DBMSs as well. However, the main focus there, at least when aimed at the commercial
data processing market, is still on descriptive attributes on repetitive record structures.Thus, the DBMSs
of today roll together frequently-needed services or features of attribute management. By externalizing
such functionality to the DBMS, applications effectively share code with each other and are relieved of
much internal complexity.