Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have to say before starting this review, that I played a role in publishing this book and David Hay is a personal friend of mine. However, I am also a data modeling practitioner and trainer and author, and hopefully these qualifications outweigh my subjectivity.
This book is a very important book for the data management industry. With the challenges of having to complete designs in unrealistic timeframes plus the trend in having people that have not been formally trained in data modeling completing some or all of the data modeling activities, there is a need more than ever to have sound data models as a foundation for our applications. This book provides a collection of sound data models for us to use and customize for our projects.
Here are my Top 5 favorite things about this book:
Levels of abstraction. Models can be used and customized at different levels of detail, depending on the analyst's or modeler's needs. There are four levels of modeling abstraction in this book. Level 0 contains the generic information assets and accounting areas, Level 1 contains people and organizations, geography, physical assets, activities and time. Level 2 models specific functional areas within an organization such as HR and marketing, and Level 3 consists of models specific to various industries. The models are extremely comprehensive and well connected. There are over 100 data models provided spanning close to 700 pages of text.
Applicability. I personally benefited from how the book takes real examples such as Highway Maintenance and Banking and connects them to the generic patterns, making them real and easy to apply to our own situations.
UML connection. The book uses the Unified Modeling Language to depict the models and contains a detailed explanation of how to read the UML class diagram and how it relates to relational modeling. Great comparison!
History of data modeling. The book contains a brief explanation of the history of modeling which I found very interesting.
Style of writing. I really like Dave's style of writing. He is selective of every word chosen and maintains consistency and clarity and humor throughout the text.
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This book teaches you how to capture and communicate both the abstract andconcrete building blocks of your organization's data, in order to provide acoherent and comprehensive foundation for systems development.
'Thisbook presents the most comprehensive treatment of high-level abstractionsI've seen. Any event, business, and/or systems analyst should have thisbook available, both as a learning text and as an indispensible referencebook. The knowledge packed away in this book takes decades to acquire andgestate. We are all fortunate to have it in a single volume."JamesOdellCo-chair, OMG - Analysis and Design "UML and SoaML" TaskForce
"David addresses a key, difficult, challenge for data modelling(and ontology) in this book - extracting the common pattern that underliesand unifies the variety of real data models that people use. And, what isalmost as important to many readers, he does this in a clear andunderstandable way."Chris PartridgeChief Ontologist, The BOROCentre
"A great data model, one that lays the essence of a businessbare, is a thing of beauty. It simplifies process, eases communication, andbrings order to chaos. A great data model serves for a lifetime. Powerfulstuff, this."Tom Redman, PresidentNavesink Consulting Group,LLC
"Finally, choosing a level of abstraction for a data model isaddressed methodically. David should be applauded for grasping this thornyissue and producing a wonderfully readable book. Every data modeler shouldhave one".Cliff Longman, PresidentAdaptable Data
In 1995,David Hay published Data Model Patterns: Conventions of Thought - thegroundbreaking book on how to use standard data models to describe thestandard business situations. Enterprise Model Patterns: Describing theWorld builds on the concepts presented there, adds 15 years of practicalexperience, and presents a more comprehensive view.
This modeladdresses your enterprise via four levels of abstraction:
Level0: An abstract template that underlies the Level 1 model, plus two metamodels: Information Resources and Accounting. Each of these itselfrepresents the rest of the enterprise, so to model it is to 'model a model",so to speak.
Level 1: An enterprise model that is genericenough to apply to any company or government agency, but concrete enough tobe readily understood by all. It describes people and organizations,geographic locations, (physical) assets, activities, and time.
Level 2: A more detailed model describing specific functionalareas: facilities and other addresses, human resources, communications andmarketing, contracts, manufacturing, and the laboratory.
Level3: Examples of the details that can be added to a model to address whatis truly unique in a particular industry. Here you see how to address theunique bits in areas as diverse as criminal justice, microbiology, banking,oil field production, and highway maintenance.
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