Object Oriented Databases - Hillinger

Carlos Hillinger -AE410 - B5

Object Oriented Databases

     I recently enrolled in a Database class required for my Intelligent Building Concentration, and it has completely changed the way I think and approach a database. I have learned how to develop Energy Diagrams using Chen notation and how to translate them into relational schema using three methods that our professor (Dr. Frein) has created for us. I will start working with SQL next week, which would have been helpful to complete this week's assignment. Without getting too much into detail, I want to share my thoughts on databases before writing about Object Oriented Databases.

     Databases are basically collections of data organized in a structured or hierarchical way, that can be accessed and managed. When developing a database, it is good to think of it as a group of entities, relationships and attributes that can be linked together with a series of constraints that will allow us to access them without having to do much work. It can be used to solve many problems and even the simplest of businesses will use them to maintain an organized client, inventory or cash database. They form part of our daily lives even if we do not notice them, and they will probably be helpful for you more than once in your life.

     My understanding of Object Oriented databases is that they are databases that store data instead of a relational database that stores code. In an object oriented database, you will be able to input an object directly into a database, like an image, a chart, a video, etc. On the other hand, in a relational database, objects are not directly input into the database, but a relationship is created between an existing entity and the new one. While the object oriented database is able to input all of the information within the object, in a relational database, the "information" is given as attributes attached to the "entity" in the form of tables.

     I have studied relational databases and can understand them well. And while I have not studied object related databases in depth, I can see and understand some of the benefits of using them. An object related database will have a simpler schema to represent complex data. While a relational database may be more detailed, it can also be damaged or have some errors that can be avoided by using an object oriented database. OOD also have direct representation of their references and can reduce the processing type of a CPU since there is less data to process.

     All in all, I believe that both database types are very helpful and we should understand them. I believe that it is of great importance, since they can relate to all the fields that we can study. In my case, as an Architectural Engineer, I can see uses or databases all around the construction world; whether it is for construction materials, budgets and plans, or for employees, salaries ad work hours.

Main Source:

https://www.service-architecture.com/articles/database/comparison_of_object_and_relational_concepts.html

Comments:

Luciana:

Luciana, I enjoyed reading through your posts. I also researched on OOD and there are many things that are easy to miss when researching, which I learned by reading your post. For example, I did not realize that Object Oriented databases require much less maintenance, and that their code is easily reusable. I also like the car analogy that you used to explain the difference between a relational database and an object oriented one. Thanks for reading and commenting on my post as well!

Dee Dee:

Dee Dee, I like the way you structured your post, it is very organized. You begin by explaining what a database is, and you continue by giving examples on how databases are useful from three different points of view. I would also like to share with you that databases don't necessarily have to be used to solve complex problems nor enormous chunks of data. They are used in our every day lives to solve the simplest of problems. I can even consider a grocery shopping list a database of some sort. Great post and great examples!

Deutsch:

Deutsch, Great Post! You provided a very good explanations on what relational databases are and how they work. I would recommend you to take a look at Energy Diagrams to better understand relational databases and how entities are assigned attributes and relationships. It can be a bit tedious to work on given the amount of constraints you have to learn, but once you get a hold of it, it becomes much easier than writing in any other coding language. If you are interested in databases, I can recommend you to take INFO 210, which is designed to help students learn a lot about databases. Great post, the best I have read this term so far!