Database Systems & PostgreSQL Bootcamp Certificate

Checkpoint 1: Design a relational schema from requirements; document keys, constraints, cardinalities, normalization choices and one deliberate denormalization if justified.
Checkpoint 2: Load realistic data and write joins, nested queries, CTEs, aggregations and window functions; verify results with independent checks.
Checkpoint 3: Create representative indexes and inspect execution plans; compare a slow baseline to an improved query with timing and plan evidence.
Checkpoint 4: Implement a multi-step transaction; demonstrate rollback plus at least one concurrency/isolation scenario and explain the anomaly or guarantee.
Checkpoint 5: Profile storage/query behavior and diagnose one bottleneck involving I/O, scanning, joins, indexes or application-generated SQL such as N+1.
Checkpoint 6: Compare the relational design with one distributed/NoSQL/graph alternative for a specific access pattern; state consistency, scale and complexity tradeoffs.

Day 1: Choose a real domain; define workloads and correctness needs; produce ER/schema design, data dictionary and representative query workload.
Day 2: Create PostgreSQL schema, constraints and seed/load data; write core SQL plus edge-case validation and integrity checks.
Day 3: Implement complex queries and capture EXPLAIN/ANALYZE-style evidence; add/revise indexes and quantify the performance change.
Day 4: Add transactions and concurrency tests; demonstrate atomic rollback and reason about isolation for at least one conflicting workload.
Day 5: Profile the workload, investigate a slow path or N+1 pattern and tune query/schema/application behavior without masking the cause.
Day 6: Exercise backup/recovery or failure handling and draft a scale-out/NoSQL alternative for one workload with explicit consistency tradeoffs.
Day 7: Publish repo, schema diagram, SQL scripts, query-plan screenshots/exports, benchmark table, transaction tests, recovery note, architecture memo and demo.