rdbms

Relational Database Design Patterns?

There’s a book in Martin Fowler’s Signature Series called Refactoring Databases. That provides a list of techniques for refactoring databases. I can’t say I’ve heard a list of database patterns so much. I would also highly recommend David C. Hay’s Data Model Patterns and the follow up A Metadata Map which builds on the first and is far more ambitious … Read more

What are database constraints?

Constraints are part of a database schema definition. A constraint is usually associated with a table and is created with a CREATE CONSTRAINT or CREATE ASSERTION SQL statement. They define certain properties that data in a database must comply with. They can apply to a column, a whole table, more than one table or an entire schema. A reliable … Read more