Scribd
Upload
27 views

10 Introduction To Data Models

Uploaded by

sethuraman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
27 views

10 Introduction To Data Models

Uploaded by

sethuraman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Introduction to Data Models

We will look at the meaning behind data models and the different types of models.

WE'LL COVER THE FOLLOWING

• Types of data models


• 1. High-level conceptual data models
• Entity relationship model
• 2. Record-based logical data models
• Hierarchical model
• Network model
• Relational model
• 3. Physical data models

In order to store data in a database system, we need some data-structures.


Hence the database systems we use normally include some complex data
structures which we normally do not use. To make the system efficient in
terms of data retrieval, and reduce complexity in terms of usability,
developers use data abstraction i.e., hide irrelevant details from the users.

In order to achieve this abstraction, we use data models.

A data model is a collection of concepts or notations for describing data,


data relationships, data semantics, and data constraints.

We will highlight what these terms mean in the next few lessons.

Most data models also include a set of basic operations for manipulating data
in the database.

Types of data models #


The different types of data models can be classified into the following
categories:

1. High-level conceptual data models #


High-level conceptual data models provide a way to present data that is
similar to how people perceive data. A typical example is an entity-
relationship model, which uses concepts like entities, attributes, and
relationships.

Entity relationship model #

An entity represents a real-world object such as an employee or a project. The


entity has attributes that represent properties such as an employee’s name,
address, and birthdate. A relationship represents an association among
entities; for example, an employee works on many projects. A relationship
exists between the employee and each project.

2. Record-based logical data models #


Record-based logical data models provide concepts users can understand but
are still similar to the way data is stored on the computer. Three well-known
data models of this type are: hierarchical, network, and relational data
models.

Hierarchical model #

In a hierarchical model, data is organized into a tree-like structure, implying


a single parent for each record. This structure mandates that each child
record has only one parent, whereas each parent record can have one or
more child records. This concept is illustrated below:
Car

Engine Body

Left Door Right door

Car is the parent of both Engine and Body, so each child has only one parent.

Network model #

The network model expands upon the hierarchical structure, allowing each
record to have multiple parent and child records, forming a generalized graph
structure. It was the most popular model before being replaced by the
relational model. The network model is shown in the diagram below:

Student Degree

Subject

In this figure, we can see that the Subject is the child of Student and Degree. So, it has two parent
classes.

Relational model #

The relational model represents data as relations or tables. For example, the
university database system contains multiple tables (relations) which in turn
have several attributes (columns) and tuples (rows).

3. Physical data models #


The physical data model represents how data is stored in computer memory,
how it is scattered and ordered in the memory, and how it would be retrieved
from memory. Basically physical data model represents each table, its
columns, and specifications, etc. It also highlights how tables are built and
related to each other in the database. The diagrammatic representation of
physical models is shown below:

Student Table
Department Table
Std_Id: Integer
Dep_Id: Integer
Std_Name: Varchar (30)
Dep_Name: Varchar(30)
Age: Integer
Dep_Location: Varchar(50)
Address: Varchar (50)
Dep_Id: Integer

The STUDENT table is related to the DEPARTMENT table through the Dep_Id attribute.

As we can see the STUDENT table consists of attributes like Std_Id , Std_Name ,
Age etc. along with their data type. Same for the DEPARTMENT table. The
arrow simply shows how these two tables are connected in this model.

In the next lesson, we will discuss schemas and instances.

You might also like