Reading Larry Burns’ “Data Model Storytelling” (TechnicsPub.com, 2021) was a really good experience for a guy like me (i.e., someone who thinks that data models are narratives). I agree with Larry on so many things. However, this post is not a review of Larry’s book. Read it for yourself – highly recommended. Reading it triggered […]
Quick, Easy, and Flexible Data Model Diagrams
Click to learn more about author Thomas Frisendal. Many of us have a lot to do. And we have short delivery cycles, sprints, and a lot of peers to share data models with. In search of something lightweight, which is quick and easy, and may be produced (or consumed) by other programs? Stay with us on a […]
What’s in a Name? (aka Data Modeling What?)
Click to learn more about author Thomas Frisendal. This is a summer special, on the lighter side, but addressing a simply overwhelming issue at times. What Are You Talking About? Sometimes the obvious is not that … obvious. Many people know that I am on the graph-y side of the house. But explaining a simple matter like […]
Computing: A Human Activity!
Click to learn more about author Thomas Frisendal. I started at the University of Copenhagen in 1969. My professor was Peter Naur. He was in many ways an unusual man and a deep thinker. It is only now in recent years that I realize how much he influenced my thinking. 1969 was his second year […]
2021: Three Game-Changing Data Modeling Perspectives
Click to learn more about author Thomas Frisendal. Common wisdom has it that we humans can only focus on three things at a time. So, I had to cut down my January 2021 list of things of importance in Data Modeling in this new, fine year (I hope)! Looking at them from above, as we […]
Generally Accepted Data Modeling Principles
Click to learn more about author Thomas Frisendal. What can data modelers learn from accountants? Accounting is a solidly established practice that the world cannot live without. One of the established guidelines for accountants is called GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the US), and there are similar international setups. You might guess these standards […]
Learning from Complex Data Modeling Practices
Click to learn more about author Thomas Frisendal. Now is a good point in time to look at best practices in database design for SQL databases. Are there things that could have been easier to do if the SQL designers had had absolute foresight? Of course, the answer is yes. But what is most important […]
To Grok or Not to Grok Data Models: A Summer Special
Click to learn more about author Thomas Frisendal. We need something light – yet still important – to ease our minds in the summertime. As a data modeler I have often experienced serious disconnects between not only business people and myself, but also between the real world and the vocabulary and definitions attributed to it. […]
Roll Call: Visual Graph Data Models Today
Click to learn more about author Thomas Frisendal. Preamble: Five years ago, I wrote a book about a new approach to Data Modeling — one that “turns the inside out.” It discussed visual Graph Data Modeling. For well over 30 years, relational modeling and normalization were the name of the game. One could ask that […]
The Conceptual Model Strikes Back!
“You must unlearn what you have learned” (Master Yoda) The “conceptual” level of Data Modeling has been a stepchild for many years and is mostly forgotten in fast-paced delivery projects today. Since the mid-nineties the legacy toolbox basically offered software-engineering inspired diagramming tools, and they did not communicate well on the business level. Fortunately, a […]