Build a data model

You already have some idea about the type of data in your database and how that data must be organized. This information is the beginning of a data model. Building a data model with formal notation has the following advantages:
  • You think through the data model completely.

    A mental model often contains unexamined assumptions; when you formalize the design, you discover these assumptions.

  • The design is easier to communicate to other people.

    A formal statement makes the model explicit, so that others can return comments and suggestions in the same form.