This has been a database-centric course on application development. Should application development ever be database-centric? A lively discussion on just this topic can be found at Hacker News.
This conversation was started by an article called Truth first, or why you should mostly implement database first designs.
One important point in the article and discussion is the importance of Truth First. The notion of Database First comes from the widespread belief (but not everyone agrees) that data is more persistent than processes. If so, it is closer to the truth of the enterprise than are processes. You have to think about this because you have to make this choice every time you have the privilege of developing a new system and every time you have the burden of maintaining an old system.