In this article, we will understand what tuple in DBMS is? We will focus on tuple meaning in DBMS, examples of tuples in DBMS, etc. So, let’s start with understanding the definition of a tuple in DBMS.
Before we understand the details about tuples in DBMS, let us first have a quick overview of what DBMS exactly is.
Database Management System (DBMS):
A database is a collection of interrelated data. For instance, the marks of students, their roll numbers, and their attendance percentage, for a particular batch/class of students is a database of that batch/class of students. This database can be in different forms. However, usually, we imagine a database in the form of tables. When the database is in the form of one or more tables, it is called a relational database.
Whether relational or not, a database represents logically related data put together. So, we might also need to add or remove some data from the database. So, we will need some instructions to add or remove data from the database.
When we combine the database and instructions required to handle this database together, we gate a Database Management System (DBMS). So, a DBMS is a combination of a database and programs required to handle (modify i.e. read, add or remove data) this database.
Some examples of popular databases are SQL, MongoDB, etc.
So, now that we have understood what a database is, let us understand the meaning of tuples in DBMS.
What is Tuple in DBMS?
Consider the following table shown below.
| Student ID | Student Name | Marks (in %) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guneet | 90 |
| 2 | Yash | 87 |
| 3 | Ashish | 90 |
| 4 | Karan | 78 |
| 5 | Akhilesh | 93 |
This table represents the marks of 5 students. Each row of this table is divided into 3 columns namely, Student ID, Student Name, and Marks. Now, consider the first row of this table. The first row has student id = 1, name = “Guneet” and marks = 90.
This row depicts the record of a student whose name is Guneet, ID = 1, and whose marks = 90. So, this means that this row is depicting the record of a particular student.
Hence, rows in DBMS are also called records. This record is also known as a tuple in DBMS.
So, a tuple is a row or a record in a DBMS table. It represents the data of a particular entity. Since each tuple in DBMS is a record of information about a particular entity, the data (or information) in a tuple which is divided into different columns is interrelated to each other.
Also, each column in DBMS is known as an attribute. So, Student ID is an attribute of an entity set called student. In this case, the entity set Student has 5 entities (or 5 records or 5 tuples). Each tuple has its own values of these attributes.
So, this is tuple in DBMS. We hope that you have understood the tuple meaning in DBMS and also understood the example table shown above. Again, a quick reminder, a row is also known as a record or tuple in DBMS and a column is known as an attribute.
With this, we conclude our discussion. We hope that you liked the discussion and hope to see you again at PrepBytes.