Lecture 2: Data Models
An Introduction to the Relational Model
Amit Kumar Dhar
July 31, 2025
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What is a Data Model?
• A data model is a collection of concepts for describing data.
• It provides a way to describe the design of a database at the
physical, logical, and view levels.
• It is a set of tools for describing:
• Data
• Data relationships
• Data semantics
• Data constraints
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Categories of Data Models
• Record-Based Data Models:
• Data is organized in fixed-format records of several types.
• Examples: Relational Model, Network Model, Hierarchical
Model.
• Object-Based Data Models:
• Use concepts such as entities, attributes, and relationships.
• Example: Entity-Relationship (ER) Model.
• Physical Data Models:
• Describe data at the lowest level (how it is stored on disk).
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Hierarchical Model
• Data is organized into a tree-like structure.
• The data is stored as records which are connected to one
another through links.
• A record is a collection of fields, with each field containing
only one value.
• A child record can only have one parent.
Database
Relational Document
SQLite MySQL Solr
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Network Model
• Similar to the hierarchical model, but a child record can have
multiple parents.
• This allows for more complex relationships to be modeled.
• Data is organized in a graph structure.
CSL100
CSL202 CSL252
CSL301
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The Relational Model
• Proposed by E.F. Codd in 1970.
• The most widely used data model.
• Data is organized into tables, which are called relations.
• A relation is a set of tuples (rows), where each tuple is a set
of attribute (column) values.
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Example Relation: Students
StudentID FirstName LastName ldap
12340070 Parth Smith parth
12340150 Isha Parekh isha
12340630 Juhi Khan juhik
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Relational Model Terminology
Column/Attribute/Field
StudentID FirstName LastName ldap
12340070 Parth Smith parth
12340150 Isha Parekh isha
12340630 Juhi Khan juhik
Row/Tuple/Record
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More Terminology
• Domain: The set of allowed values for each attribute.
• Example: The domain of ‘StudentID‘ might be the set of all
3-digit integers.
• Degree: The number of attributes in a relation.
• The ‘Students‘ relation has a degree of 4.
• Cardinality: The number of tuples in a relation.
• The ‘Students‘ relation has a cardinality of 3.
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Schema vs. Instance
• Schema: The logical design of the database. It specifies the
name of the relation and the name and type of each attribute.
• Example: ‘Students(StudentID: integer, FirstName: string,
LastName: string, ldap: string)‘
• Instance: The actual data in the database at a particular
point in time.
• The table we saw earlier is an instance of the ‘Students‘
relation.
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Keys in the Relational Model
A key is a way to uniquely identify tuples in a relation.
• Superkey: An attribute, or a set of attributes, that uniquely
identifies a tuple.
• Candidate Key: A minimal superkey (no proper subset is a
superkey).
• Primary Key: A candidate key that is chosen by the database
designer as the principal means of identifying tuples.
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Example of Keys
StudentID FirstName LastName ldap
12340070 Parth Smith parth
12340150 Isha Parekh isha
12340630 Juhi Khan juhik
Superkey StudentID FirstName LastName ldap
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Example of Keys
StudentID FirstName LastName ldap
12340070 Parth Smith parth
12340150 Isha Parekh isha
12340630 Juhi Khan juhik
Candidate Key StudentID ldap
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Example of Keys
StudentID FirstName LastName ldap
12340070 Parth Smith parth
12340150 Isha Parekh isha
12340630 Juhi Khan juhik
Primary Key
StudentID
Choice
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Foreign Keys
• A foreign key is a key used to link two tables together.
• It is a field (or collection of fields) in one table that refers to
the primary key in another table.
• This is how we create relationships between relations.
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Foreign Key Example
Enrollment
Students
CourseID StudentID
StudentID Name
CSL300 12340070
12340070 Parth
CSL300 12340150
12340150 Isha
CSL312 12340070
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Thank You!!
Questions?
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