File: It is a file in which data of a certain type is kept. For example, the PLU database holds all of the data referencing sku numbers, their individual prices, and so forth.

Records: Normally, the data within each file is divided up into ‘records’. Each record contains information related to a certain item. For example, we can look at a phonebook as a database. The phonebook is a collection of data all related to phone numbers. Individual records in the phonebook are the information related to each individual phone number - a person’s name, address, and so forth.

Fields: Each record can further be broken down into ‘fields’. A field is an entry in a record. For example, the ‘name’ field in our phonebook contains the person’s name who owns a particular number.