Question

What is a record? What is a field?

Short answer

A record, also known as a tuple or row, is a collection of related data fields that represent a single entry in a database table. It consists of data about a specific instance of an object. A field, also called an attribute or column, is a specific category of data within a record. It defines a particular property or characteristic of the object being stored in the record. In simple terms, a record is a row in a table, and a field is a column in that table.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of a Record

A record, also known as a tuple or row, is a collection of related data fields or items that represent a single entry in a database table. It consists of data about a specific instance of an object (e.g., a person, product, or event). Essentially, a record is a row in a table that contains information about a single item or entry.

Example of a Record

Let's say we have a database table for students with columns such as Student ID, Name, Age, and Class. In this example, one record would represent one student's information. For instance, a record could be: (12345, 'John Doe', 16, '10A').

Definition of a Field

A field, also called an attribute or column, is a specific category of data within a record. It defines a particular property or characteristic of the object being stored in the record. In other words, a field is a column in a table that stores a specific type of information for all records.

Example of a Field

Continuing with our student database table example, the fields would be Student ID, Name, Age, and Class. Each field holds a specific type of information: Student ID holds a unique identifier for each student; Name holds the student's full name; Age holds their age; and Class denotes the class the student is in.