As usual in this case, the first thing you must learn is to forget everything you know about the other databases you talk about.
You have almost certainly been working with relational database systems, and Notes IS NOT relational.
Notes is a document-centric db system.
Documents are created and viewed using Forms. Forms can contain code to modify fields on the document, or to retrieve information from elsewhere.
Once recorded, a document can be found in data collection objects called Views. These Views could eventually be described a SQL query results, but you cannot modify the query dynamically.
You have another type of View called Folder, which can be populated with documents manually (i.e. by user intervention).
The basic difference between a View and a Folder is that it is the programmer (designer) who decides what a View displays, whereas it is the user who decides what a Folder displays.
To manipulate field values in a Form, you can use Fomula language, or LotusScript in some places, JavaScript in others. You can also create buttons, or Actions (which are buttons on the Form but placed on the top bar). Buttons and Actions can use Formula, LotusScript or JavaScript.
Finally, you can create Agents, which are routines that can be scheduled to execute automatically at a given interval of time. These Agents also accept all three language types, but you'll probably be using LotusScript for most of them.
A good information aid is
Domino Pro.
You also have the official
Notes Developers site.
Good luck to you !
Pascal.
