Generating Combinations: A Case Study In Database Design, Recursion, VBA, And SQL Programming
Mohammad Dadashzadeh, Padmini Varanasi · Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS) · 2013
There are rare opportunities when solving an easily-understood problem can bring together application of skills taught in diverse courses in a Computer Science (CS) or Management Information Systems (MIS) program. This paper presents such an opportunity in the typical database management systems course taught at the junior or senior level. Specifically, we describe the problem of designing a database to keep track of university degree programs in, say, business analytics, their required core courses and elective groups, and generating all possible curriculum paths available for graduation. The elegant solution marries data modeling skills with programming skills in recursion, VBA and embedded SQL programming that work remarkably well in teaching students the value of each tool in the toolset they take away from required courses as a part of their undergraduate education in CS or MIS.