Summary

In this chapter, we looked back at the history of relational modeling and the various notation styles that have been used to help visualize the designs. Focusing on the most straightforward and practical semantics of these modeling styles, we could zero in on a pragmatic approach that preserves technical precision while being simple enough to be understood even by people without a formal background in database design. The modeling technique proposed in this book keeps the number of entities synchronized across conceptual, logical, and physical models, thus saving manual effort and ensuring that anyone at any level of detail can view the same model.

Using the consolidated list of modeling conventions, we looked at how to display an entity on a relational diagram in the simplest way possible. Next, we covered relationship notation and the additional context that can be conveyed beyond a simple line using two of the most popular conventions in database modeling: crow’...