See how the concepts about files, sets of files, and database management systems can be applied in making some systems design choices in the following scenario:
Last week, Professor Xavier asked for our help in designing a program to help him model the way a new series of courses would flow a set of degree program learning outcomes down into lower-level ideas and sets of ideas involving objectives, activities, and courses. Possible ways to structure it was discussed so the data from the user's logical viewpoint "made sense."
Professor X was so impressed, that he's asked for the next step in the process: start designing a set of software and procedures that he can use in his course design. In essence, he wants to build his own courseware development system. To do this, one of the first questions is whether it will live in a database management system, or whether it can live in some "simpler" set of files and file types?
Is this something so unique and novel, that you want to propose a whole new set of file types, concepts, formats, metadata, and what else? Or does it seem to fit into something that probably already exists?
For this assignment, write a one-page "first best guess" and advice for this program. Think about and share ideas of an implementation strategy and the files or database approach that might be best.