The Main Stages of Database Design
The Main Stages of Database Design
The database development life cycle has a number of stages that are followed when
developing database systems.
The steps in the development life cycle do not necessarily have to be followed
religiously in a sequential manner.
On small database systems, the process of database design is usually very simple
and does not involve a lot of steps.
In order to fully appreciate the above diagram, let’s look at the individual
components listed in each step for overview of design process in DBMS.
The specific form and content of the conceptual model of the database is
determined by the formal apparatus chosen for this purpose. Graphical notations
similar to ER diagrams are commonly used.
Most often, the conceptual model of the database includes:
description of information objects or concepts of the subject area and
connections between them.
description of integrity constraints, i.e. requirements for permissible data
values and relationships between them.
Logical design
Creating a database scheme based on a specific data model, for example, a
relational database model. For a relational data model, this is a set of relationship
schemas, usually specifying primary keys, as well as "links" between relationships,
which are foreign keys.
The transformation of a conceptual model into a logical model is usually carried
out according to formal rules. This step can be largely automated.
At the stage of logical design, the specifics of a specific data model are taken into
account, but the specifics of a specific DBMS may not be taken into account.
Physical design
creation of a database scheme for a specific DBMS. The specifics of a specific
DBMS may include restrictions on the naming of database objects, restrictions on
supported data types, and others. In addition, the specificity of a specific DBMS
during physical design includes the choice of solutions related to the physical data
storage environment (choice of disk memory management methods, database
division by files and devices, data access methods), creation of indexes, and others.
The entity-relationship model (ER-model) (Entity-relationship model or entity-
relationship diagram) is a data model that allows you to describe conceptual
schemes using generalized block structures. An ER model is a data meta-model,
that is, a means of describing data models. There are a number of models for
knowledge representation, but one of the most convenient tools for a unified
representation of data independent of the software that implements it is the entity-
relationship model. The fact that all available data models (hierarchical, network,
relational, object) can be generated from the "entity-relationship" model is
important, so it is the most general.
Steps: