数据库英文版第六版课后答案 (28).pdf

C H A P T E R 7 Database Design and the E-R Model This chapter introduces the entity-relationship model in detail. A significant change in the 6th edition is the change in the E-R notation used in the book. There are several alternative E-R notations used in the industry. Increasingly, however, the UML class diagram notation is used instead of the traditional E-R notation used in earlier editions of the book. Among the reasons is the wide availability of UML tools, as well as the conciseness of the UML notation compared to the notation with separate ovals to represent attributes. In keeping with this trend, we have changed our E-R notation to be more compatible with UML. The chapter covers numerous features of the model, several of which can be omitted depending on the planned coverage of the course. Extended E-R features (Section 7.8) and all subsequent sections may be omitted in case of time constraints in the course, without compromising the students understanding of basic E-R modeling. However, we recommend covering specialization (Section 7.8.1) at least in some detail, since it is widely used in object-oriented modeling. The E-R model itself and E-R diagrams are used often in the text. It is important that students become comfortable with them. The E-R model is an excellent context for the introduction of students to the complexity of database design. For a given enterprise there are often a wide variety of E-R designs. Although some choices are arbitrary, it is often the case that one design is inherently superior to another. Several of the exercises illustrate this point. The evaluation of the goodness of an E-R design requires an und