DEV Community: pjl5401

Normalization and the Different Types of Normal Form

pjl5401 — Sun, 27 Sep 2020 20:27:40 +0000

Hey everyone!
In this weeks post I am going to be explaining the different normal data types that are within my COVID-19 database. In last weeks video, I showcased the COVID-19 database that I had just created and explained the different commands within SQL to edit/add data to different rows and columns. With normalization, I am going to be able to clean up my database tables and make it much more efficient and less crowded with data that is not necessarily needed to get the data that is needed.

So what is normalization? Normalization is the process of adjusting the data in a database to make it follow a certain set of criteria. There are six different normal data types, and each one builds off of the previous one. For example, in order for it to be second normal form, it must include all of the criteria from first normal form in order for it to be considered second normal form. This is the case for all six forms. So, as shown in my table of behavior, this would be considered first normal form because it meets the criteria of being uniquely identified by a primary key, in this case it is behavior_ID, the data in the table is reduced to it’s simplest form, and no groups are repeated.
Here is my Behavior table:

An example of a data table that could use some cleaning up would be my Risk table. The column that could be eliminated would be the ImmunoCompromised column. The column next to it is MedicalConditions, so therefore if one fills out a particular medical condition that they have, it can be assumed that they have an increased risk of death from the disease due to the fact that it indicates they could potentially be immune-compromised. To fix this, I removed the ImmunoCompromised column using the ALTER command and decided to base whether or not you are at a higher risk of death on MedicalConditions instead.
As you can see in the image below, I have dropped the ImmunoCompromised column from the table.

An example of second normal form within my database would be in the Occupation table. In order for data to be considered second normal form, it has to meet the criteria of everything from the first normal form, and it has to be data that only relates to the table’s primary key. To show this in my Occupation table, all of the data in the table depends on the Employee_ID column because the given employee ID states what your job is and whatever your job is determines the data for the rest of the columns in the table.

In this weeks video, I have gone through the different types of normal forms and demonstrated the differences between them based on my own database. I also did a walkthrough of how to use the ALTER command. Hope you enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N__Ob0TDwk

Physical Version of ER Diagram + Aura App Opinions

pjl5401 — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 01:17:14 +0000

After I first read the article by Zack Whittaker, the thought that came into my mind was the fact that this is absolutely ridiculous. I believe that it is a complete invasion of privacy and that a university does not have the right to track their students every move to reduce the coronavirus spread. In my opinion, there is a much better way of going about this that does not interfere with student’s personal privacy. While in theory some may think it is a good idea for contact tracing, it is a major privacy concern.

I personally believe that this app is intrusive and not necessary at all. The fact that Albion College thinks that this is a good idea is actually scary. This to me is intrusive because the university is asking their students to give up their right to privacy in order to attend their university. There are many different and better ways to go about contact tracing without tracking students phones every second of the day. Students have a right to their privacy, and they should be able to choose whether they want their university tracking their phones or not.

If Penn State were to implement the Aura App system into their students and make it mandatory, I personally would feel as if they are taking away my right to privacy. I would not accept it and find a way to opt out of it. Where I am located at a given time is my own business and not the university’s. I am guessing that the reason Penn State has not implemented this app system is because it does violate student’s privacy rights and most students would most likely not comply.

I think that privacy of data in certain ways is in fact more valuable than safety. I believe that privacy is a way to keep people safe. With programs like this coming out that are tracking your location 24/7, it can be a valuable target for hackers to find your location and track you down. Although privacy is very important, safety can also come before privacy. For example, if your life is in danger and you are unable to give up your location, authorities can track you to find where you are and send immediate help. In this circumstance, I believe that it is different. In that situation, it is life or death whether you are able to receive help or not. With this app, college students are not at the risk of death with contracting the virus, so I believe that it is not necessary.

Other ways that are more ethical to contact trace would include receiving a phone call from a health service asking questions about your location instead. That way it is voluntarily giving up information. Another way to solve this issue with tech is to possibly have students fill out a form or an online survey to say where they have been and where they may have contracted the virus.

Attached is my updated version of my original ER diagram, along with the new physical ER diagram that I have created.

Physical:

Conceptual:

Here is the link to my video explaining my diagrams:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJl3Ct-HTgk

Risk of COVID-19 ER Diagram

pjl5401 — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 03:19:10 +0000

At this point during the pandemic, a lot of people are wondering how at risk they are for COVID-19. COVID has been known to make people very ill and even bring some to their deathbed. So how at risk am I? This is a question that many people ask themselves when they think of catching the virus. The level of risk you are at when catching the virus can depend on many factors. These factors can vary depending on your lifestyle, age, and many others. This ER diagram that I have created is a data model that can show how the different levels of risk you are based on a few entities.
In this ER diagram that I have created, I used six different entities. They are Patient, Hospitals, Risk, Occupation, Geographic Location, and Behavior. All of these factors are very important when deciding how at risk you are for having severe symptoms of the virus.

For example, with the patient entity, it has five attributes and several relationships connecting it to other entities. These attributes within the patient entity are gender, age, weight, height, and forehead temperature. These factors are very important to outline because they can help determine whether or not you should go to the hospital when you are feeling sick. This entity connects to several other entities through the relations “where patient is living” and “Is participating in”. The where patient is living entity is an important connection the hospitals entity because it determines which hospital you need to go to based on your location. The “is participating in” relation connects to behavior because what they are participating in can increase their risk.
The next entity I chose to use is the hospitals entity, which has the attributes doctors, nurses, attitude of staff, ICU capacity, and skills. It is also connected to the “where patient is living attribute” which was explained in the paragraph above. These attributes are important because they outline the skills of the doctors and staff as well as the strength of the hospital
The entity geographic location was included in the diagram along with the attributes country, state, county, street, and house number/apartment. It is also connected to the “is living in high risk area” relation that connects to the risk entity. These attributes outline where the patient lives. The relation is connected to the risk entity because certain locations are more susceptible to contracting the virus
The fourth entity that I decided to use in the diagram was the behavior entity which has the attributes partying, quarantining, going to class, going into the office, and only hanging out with a small group of friends. It also is connected using the relation “is participating in” which is connected to the patient entity. These attributes are important because based on your behavior, you can be more likely to catch the virus.
The fifth entity that I decided to use is the occupation entity that has the attributes essential worker, solo truck driver, class at home, works from home, and works in close contact. It is connected by the “is employed” in relation to describe where the patient works. These attributes show the risk of the patient based on their job.
The final entity that I used was the risk entity, which attributes malnourished, medical condition, smoker, compromised immune system, and older adults show the major risks of the virus. It is also connected by the “is living in high risk area” relation since if you live in a high risk area you are more at risk.
When creating the tuples, I made sure to lay them out in a way that was easy to read, almost like filling out a paper you get when arriving at the doctor’s office. It also directly corresponds with the diagram in a way that is easy to follow.

Here is the link to my video describing the diagram:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXcoBoUCqQw

Introduction, and SQL VS. NoSQL

pjl5401 — Sun, 30 Aug 2020 22:31:36 +0000

Hello everyone, my name is Paul Lanahan and I am a sophomore here at Penn State. I am from a small town in south-eastern Pennsylvania called West Grove, where we are known for growing mushrooms, which comes along with a wacky smell. I am currently studying Security Risk Analysis, and have so far loved everything about it. I was pretty clueless when I came here about picking a major, but now I have become passionate about it and plan to continue studying it. I was debating between SRA and finance when I got here, but I am glad I have chosen the path that I have.

When it comes to tech, I am interested in learning how to keep information out of the hands of hackers. I took SRA 221 last semester which was about how to use the linux operating system along with other programs such as wireshark which are great tools to use when it comes to securing information. It taught me how to perform SQL injections, along with many other introductory tactics for making sure data is safe. In this course, I am excited to learn about data structures and their architecture. This course will be very beneficial to me because knowing more about data structures and how they work will allow me to understand more of what I will be keeping safe.

My first semester freshman year, I took a java programming class and learned that programming was not my favorite thing in the world. Instead of having a more programming-based path, I would like to have more of an analytics-based path that requires little to no programming. Before coming to Penn State, I knew very little about computers and data, and how it all works. After taking a few of the entrance to major classes, I soon learned how interesting and enjoyable it was to work with computers.

After my four years here at Penn State, as of now my plan is to go on to work for a financial company or bank with a cybersecurity position. While in the cybersecurity position, I would like to learn finance and how the stock market works so that I can also be beneficial to the business side of the company as well. I love math, and I love to analyze so cybersecurity analytics along with finance would be the ideal environment for me. Although my plan is to work for a bank or financial company, I have also thought about going the government route. Working for the government in a three letter agency seems like it would be an exciting and eventful career path as well.

Here is the link to my video about SQL vs NoSQL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GslDSUJXKLg

Short Summary of SQL vs NoSQL:
• What is it?
o SQL: Programming language that is designed to bring you specific data from an organized database
o NoSQL: Programming language designed to retrieve data that is not structured

• Difference in Query:
o SQL: Used by specifying column and row
o NoSQL: used by searching for an idea of what you are looking for and being given several pieces of data