A data model as a blueprint

Discipline

Databases

Form

Database Analogies

Attribution — Origin / Source

Collected by Raja Sooriamurthi — Kroenke, D., & Auer, D. (2016). Database Processing Fundamentals, Design, and Implementation. 14 ed. Pearson.

Topic

Conceptual modeling

Domain

Anything else

Conceptual Advantage

focus on structure

Mapping

SymbolConcept

Draws Attention To

abstraction

Details

Text

A data model is a plan, or blueprint, for a database design. By analogy, consider the construction of your dorm or apartment building. The contractor did not just buy some lumber, call for the concrete trucks, and start work. Instead, an architect constructed plans and blueprints for that building long before construction began. If, during the planning stage, it was determined that a room was too small or too large, the blueprint could be changed simply by redrawing the lines. If, however, the need for change occurs after the building is constructed, the walls, electrical system, plumbing, and so on will need to be rebuilt, at great expense and loss of time. It is easier, simpler, and faster to change the plan than it is to change a constructed building.

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