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Course 115 · Digital course 22

Design a Relational Database

Separate objects from events and build a database design that avoids repeated facts and impossible loans.

Before you start

Understand rows, columns and unique IDs; Answer Questions with SQL is useful background.

See everything you’ll need

Practice materials and a worked example · Free download. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

A four-table equipment-loan schema with stable keys, relationship definitions, integrity rules and checked edge cases.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesStart with the supplied materials, follow the lessons, and compare your work with the annotated example.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Optional course overview

Watch an introduction.

This overview from freeCodeCamp.org introduces ideas you’ll practice in the lessons.

Watch directly on YouTube
freeCodeCamp.orgDatabase Design Course - Learn how to design and plan a database for beginnersYouTube
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners age 14+ who meet the stated prerequisites.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Understand rows, columns and unique IDs; Answer Questions with SQL is useful background.
  • Use paper or a text editor. Optional implementation uses free SQLite in a new empty database.
  • Reading and core practice include the three checks. Initial software setup and optional video viewing take extra time.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

A four-table equipment-loan schema with stable keys, relationship definitions, integrity rules and checked edge cases.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • Four entity definitions and base row counts.
  • Stable primary keys and foreign keys.
  • Relationship sketch and trace.
  • Dependency/redundancy example.
  • Integrity rules, three edge cases and limits.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • Objects and events remain distinct.
  • Keys reconstruct every required relationship.
  • Facts are stored with their proper owner.
  • Constraints and case decisions match the stated policy.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Give facts an owner

Store descriptive facts with the entity that determines them.

02

Separate identity from labels

Names can repeat or change while stable IDs persist.

03

Challenge the model

Test valid, invalid and changed-state cases before implementation.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Entity
An independently identified thing or event.
Primary key
The unique identifier for a table row.
Foreign key
A reference to a row in another table.
Dependency
A relationship where one fact determines another.
Normalization
Structuring tables to reduce inconsistent repeated facts.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Find the entities in a real-world brief

    Separate equipment types, physical items, borrowers and loan events.

  2. 2
    24 min

    Choose stable keys

    Select identifiers that distinguish records even when labels change.

  3. 3
    28 min

    Model relationships between tables

    Describe one-to-many links and locate foreign keys.

  4. 4
    24 min

    Remove repeated facts

    Use dependencies to prevent inconsistent updates.

  5. 5
    28 min

    State and check integrity rules

    Translate requirements into rules for permitted records.

  6. 6
    28 min

    Challenge and hand off the schema

    Test the complete design with historical and simultaneous-loan cases.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Design a Relational Database practice files

Start with the supplied materials, follow the lessons, and compare your work with the annotated example.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

BCcampus: Entity Relationship Data Model
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Opened and inspected on 2026-09-12: Entities, keys and relationship multiplicities.

Access: Free public web page; no paid enrollment required.

Reuse: CC BY 4.0 except credited exceptions; independent tables and explanations.

BCcampus: Functional Dependencies
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Opened and inspected on 2026-09-12: Determinants and dependencies.

Access: Free public web page; no paid enrollment required.

Reuse: CC BY 4.0 except noted material; independent examples.

BCcampus: Normalization
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Opened and inspected on 2026-09-12: Redundancy and decomposition.

Access: Free public web page; no paid enrollment required.

Reuse: CC BY 4.0 except noted material; independent examples.

Database Design Course - Learn how to design and plan a database for beginners
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Metadata retrieved and inspected on 2026-09-12: exact title and channel confirmed through YouTube oEmbed. Playback and full video content were not tested. Optional overview; the written lesson and supplied practice stand alone.

Access: Free public web page; no paid enrollment required.

Reuse: Link or provider embed only; do not copy video, audio or transcript.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one