Beginning Database Design
Chapter One
Database Modeling
Past and Present
"... a page of history is worth a volume of logic." (Oliver Wendell Holmes)
Why a theory was devised and how it is now applied, can be more significant than the theory itself.
This chapter gives you a basic grounding in database model design. To begin with, you need to
understand simple concepts, such as the difference between a database model and a database. A
database model is a blueprint for how data is stored in a database and is similar to an architectural
approach for how data is stored-a pretty picture commonly known as an entity relationship diagram
(a database on paper). A database, on the other hand, is the implementation or creation of a
physical database on a computer. A database model is used to create a database.
In this chapter, you also examine the evolution of database modeling. As a natural progression of
improvements in database modeling design, ... read full excerpt from Beginning Database Design ebook
