Set of data logically organized to enable a fast acces to information.

          Generally that database is contained in a fat file whose each line is called a record. As an example one could get the following record:

Doakes;Joe;27 bleachstreet;London SW1;United Kingdom

          You see that record is made of 5 fields: surname, first name, sreet and number, city and postal code or ZIP, country or state.

          In order to manage this database (imagine there are several hundreds of thousands of such lines and many more informations on them) a software that can be very complex is usually accompanying it: The DBMS, DataBase Management System.

          That software guarantees fast read and write access to the database. For example when you are consulting your bank account the record is gotten from the bank database. When you are withdrawing money from a cash point that operation is written into the database and a subtraction is made to automatically modify the balance of your account.

          There is also a security system. You don't have access to the account of your neighbour, this is handled by the password you had to type. Then there is the necessity for a system to backup the data. What would happen if there was a breakdown? All that is handled by the DBMS.

          We are barely touching the subject here but this is only an introduction to information technology, just to give you a general idea.