# Database glossary: Novice level

41 Database terms at the Novice level, each with a short definition and a link to its full page.

Updated: September 28, 2026

[Study these as flash cards](https://www.ask-codey.com/decks/database/novice)

- [ASC](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/asc): An ORDER BY direction that sorts from lower values to higher values.
- [CHECK Constraint](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/check-constraint): A constraint requiring inserted or updated rows to satisfy a search condition.
- [Column](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/column): A named part of a table that holds values from a defined data type or domain.
- [Column Alias](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/column-alias): A temporary output name assigned to a selected expression or column.
- [Comparison Predicate](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/comparison-predicate): A condition comparing values with operators such as =, <>, <, or >=.
- [Constraint](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/constraint): A rule the database enforces to protect valid and consistent data.
- [Data Type](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/data-type-database): A rule defining which values a column or expression may contain and which operations apply.
- [Database](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/database): An organized collection of data that software can store, retrieve, and update.
- [DEFAULT Clause](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/default-clause): A clause providing a value when an INSERT omits the column.
- [DESC](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/desc): An ORDER BY direction that sorts from higher values to lower values.
- [DISTINCT](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/distinct): A SELECT option that removes duplicate rows from a result.
- [Domain](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/domain): A permitted set of values from which an attribute draws its data.
- [Foreign Key](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/foreign-key): Columns whose values must match a referenced unique or primary key, subject to NULL rules.
- [FROM](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/from): A query clause identifying the source tables, views, or derived tables.
- [Key](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/key): One or more attributes used to identify rows or connect related relations.
- [Logical Predicate](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/logical-predicate): A condition that combines or reverses other conditions with AND, OR, or NOT.
- [Many-to-Many Relationship](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/many-to-many-relationship): A relationship where rows on both sides can relate to many rows on the other side.
- [NOT NULL Constraint](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/not-null-constraint): A constraint requiring a column to contain a non-NULL value.
- [NULL](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/null-database): A marker indicating that a value is missing or unknown, rather than zero or an empty string.
- [Numeric Literal](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/numeric-literal): A number written directly in a SQL statement.
- [One-to-Many Relationship](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/one-to-many-relationship): A relationship where one parent row can relate to many child rows.
- [One-to-One Relationship](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/one-to-one-relationship): A relationship where each row can relate to at most one row on the other side.
- [ORDER BY](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/order-by): A clause that sorts a query result by one or more expressions.
- [Primary Key](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/primary-key): The chosen candidate key that uniquely identifies every row and cannot contain NULL.
- [Query](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/query): A request for data or another result from a database.
- [Relation](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/relation): A set of tuples sharing the same named attributes in the relational model.
- [Relational Database](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/relational-database): A database that represents data as relations commonly presented as tables.
- [Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/relational-database-management-system-rdbms): Software that creates, protects, queries, and updates relational databases.
- [Relationship](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/relationship): A meaningful association between entities represented through keys and relations.
- [Result Set](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/result-set): The rows and columns produced by a query.
- [Row](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/row): One record in a table containing a value for each column.
- [Schema](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/schema): The named structure defining database objects such as tables, views, and constraints.
- [SELECT](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/select-database): A statement or query clause that chooses expressions and columns for a result.
- [Snake Case](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/snake-case): All letters are lower case, each word is separated by an underscore.
- [SQL Statement](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/sql-statement): A complete SQL instruction sent to a database management system.
- [String Literal](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/string-literal): Text written between single quotation marks in SQL.
- [Structured Query Language (SQL)](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/structured-query-language-sql): The standardized language for defining, querying, and changing relational data.
- [Table](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/table): The common SQL representation of a relation, arranged in rows and columns.
- [UNIQUE Constraint](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/unique-constraint): A constraint preventing duplicate values or value combinations in specified columns.
- [Unique Key](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/unique-key): One or more columns constrained so duplicate combinations are not allowed.
- [WHERE](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/where-database): A query clause keeping only rows for which its condition is true.

- Next level: [Apprentice](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/subjects/database/apprentice)

[Every Database term, by level](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/subjects/database)

Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/subjects/database/novice