Chapter 7. Models

We return now to the domain of computerized information systems. The bridge that gets us back is the "data model." It is a bridge in the sense that data models are techniques for representing information, and are at the same time sufficiently structured and simplistic as to fit well into computer technology.

I distinguish "data modeling" from "data model." Data modeling is the process of eliciting business requirements and organizing the data to produce a data model. The data model becomes the artifact that can be used and reused to avoid performing the same data modeling activities again and again.