Difference Between Database and Database Management System (DBMS)

Do you wonder – what is the difference between Database and Database Management System (DBMS)?

Are they both same or different?

I talk with many computer science students and programmers. One of the biggest myth circulating among students is, database and database management system are the same.

Since my early days, when I started learning computer science to till date, this is one of the biggest misconceptions.

But, they are far different from each other. And you will understand it after giving a complete read to this article.

In this post, I am going to give detail insight into the difference between database and database management system.

What is a Database?

The database includes actual data you save.

The database is any collection of data whether you are writing it on the paper or storing it in the digital format.

There are two types of database…

• Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)
• Online Analysis Processing (OLAP)

OLTP stores the current data and it is used for the transaction. Usually, it is stored in Megabyte or Gigabyte of space.

Whereas, OLAP stores historical data which is used for data analysis. Data can be in Terabyte or Petabyte of size.

In a relational database, the structure of the table also belongs to the database. It is also called a Schema of the database.

To access data from the database, user need database management system.

What is a Database Management System (DBMS)?

The database contains data in a well-structured format.

DBMS is a kind of software that helps you to retrieve, edit and store structured data in the database.

In the case of a relational database, related data are stored in multiple tables. And each table has data stored in rows and columns. These tables are connected using a foreign key in the database.

To retrieve this data from the database and process it, you need a data processing unit. This unit is called Query Processing Software. It is part of a database management system.

The data in the database is stored in the well-formatted structure. It’s not that much easy to manage and store the data. You need Storage Management Software.

Overall, the query processing software and storage management software belong to the database management system. And it has the main role of managing data inside the database by the most secure and efficient way.

DBMS is also responsible for data transaction. To adhere to the reliability of the database, DBMS follows ACID Properties (Explained with examples).

The very known database management systems are MySQL, MS SQL Server, Oracle…

You might have got a clear view of the database and its management system.

What is the difference between Database and Database Management System?

So, let’s take an example. It makes easy to understand.

In day to day life, if I say, you use the database and manage it. How come?

The data you write on paper is a database. And the pen and your handwriting technique area database management system.

Since the ancient time, we have evolved so far to store the data in the digital format instead of writing it on the paper. Now, we can access data anywhere and anytime.

We can also save the data in any text file, called a file system. But, DBMS is preferable to use, rather than the file system. There are so many Advantages of Database Management System over File System.

What is Database System?

Database and database management system,  combine it forms a Database System.

In other words, both the database and database management system are the parts of Database System (DS).

Why is it important to learn Database System?

You might be knowing the importance of data and so the database management. Whether it is big data, IoT, data analytics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, data is a crucial entity. As the growth of big data, there is the huge scope of career opportunities in the database management system.

If you have any doubt regarding the difference between database and database management system, feel free to write in a comment. I would like to get your views and discuss the comparison between DB and DBMS.