Editing Database (section)

{{Short description|Organized collection of data in computing}}
{{about|the computing concept|instances of the general concept|Lists of databases}}
{{Merge from|Data bank|discuss=Talk:Database#Proposed merge of Data bank into Database|date=May 2025}}
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[[Image:DVD Rental Query.png|thumb|An [[SQL]] select statement and its result|upright=1.35]]

In [[computing]], a '''database''' is an organized collection of [[Data (computing)|data]] or a type of [[data store]] based on the use of a '''database management system''' ('''DBMS'''), the [[software]] that interacts with [[end user]]s, [[Application software|applications]], and the database itself to capture and analyze the data. The DBMS additionally encompasses the core facilities provided to administer the database. The sum total of the database, the DBMS and the associated applications can be referred to as a '''database system'''. Often the term "database" is also used loosely to refer to any of the DBMS, the database system or an application associated with the database.

Before digital storage and retrieval of data have become widespread, [[index cards]] were used for [[data storage]] in a wide range of applications and environments: in the home to record and store recipes, shopping lists, contact information and other organizational data; in business to record presentation notes, project research and notes, and contact information; in schools as flash cards or other visual aids; and in academic research to hold data such as bibliographical citations or notes in a [[card file]]. Professional book indexers used index cards in the creation of book indexes until they were replaced by [[indexing software]] in the 1980s and 1990s.

Small databases can be stored on a [[file system]], while large databases are hosted on [[computer clusters]] or [[cloud storage]]. The [[Database design|design of databases]] spans formal techniques and practical considerations, including [[data modeling]], efficient data representation and storage, [[query language]]s, [[Database security|security]] and [[Information privacy|privacy]] of sensitive data, and [[distributed computing]] issues, including supporting [[concurrent computing|concurrent]] access and [[fault tolerance]].

[[Computer scientists]] may classify database management systems according to the [[database model]]s that they support. [[Relational database]]s became dominant in the 1980s. These model data as [[Row (database)|rows]] and [[Column (database)|columns]] in a series of [[Table (database)|tables]], and the vast majority use [[SQL]] for writing and querying data. In the 2000s, non-relational databases became popular, collectively referred to as [[NoSQL]], because they use different [[query language]]s.