CHAPTER 3
The Language of Data Modeling
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things but their inward significance.
—Aristotle
A data model is one of the most important tools in the design process, but it has to be done right. A common misconception is that a data model is a picture of a database. That is partly true, but a model can do so much more. A great data model covers pretty much everything about a database and serves as the primary documentation for the life cycle of the database. Aspects of the model will be useful to developers, users, and the database administrators (DBAs) who maintain the system.
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