DATABASE DEBUNKINGS

BUSINESS MODELING FOR DATABASE DESIGN

OVERVIEW

Among the various aspects of data management that suffer from lack of foundation knowledge, few are as poorly understood as business modeling and database design, particularly the commonly confused concepts of business model, logical model, and data model. This paper will delve into each one in turn in detail, guiding the practitioner through the process of creating a business model such that a logical model can be mapped to it via a data model and, thus, represented in the database.

This seminar has the following objectives:

1. To educate (rather than train) on a systematic methodology for business modeling and database design;
2. To introduce to data fundamentals critical both these tasks and data management in general;
3. To show how such knowledge can be used to assess data management technologies, products and practices
4. To demonstrate its practical value in evaluating industry claims and detecting problems;

The focus is on thinking and understanding, rather than following procedures, scripts, recipes or fads.

OUTLINE

• Introduction

• Business Modeling

• Basic Modeling Concepts
• Business Rules

• Property Business Rules
• Class Business Rules

• Attribute Rules
• Distinctness Rules
• Functional Dependency Rules
• Referential Rules
• Arbitrary Rules

• Business Models

• Database Design

• Predicates and Propositions
• The Relational Data Model

• Relational Structure
• Relational Integrity
• Relational Manipulation

• Logical Models

• Understanding Database Management

• Truth vs. Correctness
• Database and DBMS Defined
• A Foundation Framework

• Applying the Framework

• R-tables and Relationships
• Alternative Data Models
• Typeless Database Management
• Data and Meaning
• Are Keys Necessary?
• Mathematics, Rules and Correctness
• Is my Database Design Correct?
• References

INSTRUCTOR

Fabian Pascal has a national and international reputation as an independent analyst, author and lecturer specializing in data management. He was affiliated with Codd & Date and for more than 25 years has taught at the business and academic levels. Clients include IBM, Census Bureau, CIA, Apple, Golden Gate University, UCSF and IRS. He is founder, editor and publisher of DATABASE DEBUNKINGS, a blog dedicated to dispelling persistent data management myths and misconceptions. Author of three books and hundreds of articles for trade publications, including DM Review, Database Programming and Design, DBMS, Byte, Infoworld and Computerworld, he writes and publishes the PRACTICAL DATABASE FOUNDATIONS series of papers that make the scientific foundations of database management and their practical implications accessible to data professionals and users.