C.2. Entity-Relationship Modeling

Entity-relationship (ER) modeling is a simple and clear method of expressing the design of database. ER modeling isn't new—it was first proposed by Chen in 1976—but it has only emerged as the dominant modeling paradigm for databases in the past 10 or 12 years.

Figure C-2 shows a partial model of the winestore. In this diagram, you can see the relationship between wines, wineries, and regions. Each wine has attributes such as a name, type, and a description. A wine is made by a winery, and each winery has attributes such as a name, phone, and description. Many wineries are located in a region, where a region has a map and description.