Database design patterns. (c2011)

Abstract

Design Patterns (DPs), recently took over software development by storm. Object oriented development, workflows and distributed computing are a few of the disciplines where DP made a significant difference in the delivery speed and product quality. Unfortunately, databases did not yet attract the attention of DP designers. This thesis benefits from the growing popularity of open source, data centric applications, and uncovers 24 DPs related to databases. The relative high number of patterns triggered the creation of a new high level design language, DDRL, (Database Designer Reconnaissance Language), which would allow anyone who knows how to use a word processor to design and populate a normalized database; thus, laying out the blue print for an eventual automation process, and significantly reducing and simplifying all the stages of an upcoming development process. The principles behind DDRL will be elaborated (language grammar, features and output characteristics).