1.2. The Entity Data Model: A Client-Side Data Model

An EDM is a client-side data model and it is the core of the Entity Framework. It is not the same as the database model; that belongs to the database. The data model in the application describes the structure of your business objects. It’s as though you were given permission to restructure the database tables and views in your enterprise’s database so that the tables and relationships look more like your business domain rather than the normalized schema that is designed by database administrators.

Figure 1-1 shows the schema of a typical set of tables in a database. PersonalDetails provides additional information about a Person that the database administrator has chosen to put into a separate table for the sake of scalability. SalesPerson is a table that is used to provide additional information for those people who are salespeople.