Can someone explain databases to me?

I had never heard of these programs until trying to find one that will work with something I just downloaded.

What exactly is a database and why do I need one for some programs? Are these databases files on my machine, or do they require Internet connection? If so, where are they stored? What is the file extension of databases?

I mean I know what the word "database" means, but I don't understand how it works in this instance or why it is required right now. Don't most programs just save all their "data" in a file that can be opened by that program? (.xls, .doc, .txt, .....). What's the difference here?
 

Cromewell

Administrator
Staff member
It may be referring to it's own save a database file. i.e. a doc, xls, whatever. Some applications are known to do that, like Lotus Notes where even your emails are a "database."

Or maybe it's referring to internal data it needs to run. I'm not familiar with this particular piece of software. But in the context you have above it doesn't sound like a database as I would call it.

However, even in a savefile context, that would still be a database of sorts.
 
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