A database can be a set of flat files stored on computer tape or
disk or it could consist of database tables that are managed by a Database
Management System (DBMS).
There are different types of DBMS products: relational, network and hierarchical. The
most widely commonly used type of DBMS today is the Relational Database
Management Systems (RDBMS).
Some Data Base Management Systems can be accessed directly using programming
languages such as COBOL while others provide their own programming language for
interacting with the database. Many DBMS applications also provide reporting and
query tools to view data in the database.
