There will be 3 individual assignments throughout the course. They will be posted here as the course progresses.
April 1: Data Streams - Read Sections 1-6
How do data stream systems differ from traditional relational databases?
Mention a couple of data stream applications, and explain why a RDBMS would not be able to support them.
Why do you think that exact query processing is very hard to achieve in the context of data streaming?
April 8: Probabilistic Databases: Diamonds in the Dirt
Describe briefly what is a probabilistic database.
What are some key applications of probabilistic databases?
Why is it hard to scale probabilistic databases?
April 15: Provenance in Databases: Why, How, and Where (read only the introduction)
What are some applications of provenance?
What is the difference between why, how and where provenance?
Discuss the differences between eager and lazy provenance computation.
April 22: A Firm Foundation for Private Data Analysis
Describe briefly what is differential privacy.
What are some of the challenges in applying differential privacy in practical settings?