Beginning Database Design: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition

CHAPTER 2

Guided Tour of the Development Process

The decision to set up a small database usually arises because there is some specific task in mind: a scientist may have some experimental results that need safekeeping; a small business may wish to produce invoices and monthly statements for its customers; a sports club may want to keep track of teams and subscriptions.

The important thing is not to focus solely on the immediate task at hand but to try to understand the data that are going to support that task and other likely tasks. This is sometimes referred to as data independence. In general, the fundamental data items (names, amounts, dates) ...