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sqldatabasevisual-studio
Zvi Twersky
Zvi Twersky

Reputation: 439

Understanding pre-database design method

I'm not new to database design but it is just a hobby, not a profession. I've always planned my schema on paper and then dove right into the actual design in Visual Studio or SQL Management Studio. Now I am going to be designing a complex DB for my own business and wanted to make sure I don't have headaches down the road. So I researched tips and tricks on planning DB design. Over and over I see people using Diagram Tool platforms like Vertabelo, Sea Quail, and many others, (which most cost money) where there would build the DB and then export the SQL for building the final DB in the software they will be developing their application in.

My question is, looking at these platforms, it seems to be identical to Visual Studio or SQL Management Studio, where you see a diagram of the tables, can drag and drop FK (foreign keys) and actually, do anything. So what is the benefit of using these Diagram Tool platforms vs just designing the DB right in Visual Studio after planning it all out on paper?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 81

Answers (1)

ArunGeorge
ArunGeorge

Reputation: 485

According to me, the "diagram" tools are used because -

  1. Ease of collaboration. Typically these 'diagrams' can be stored in a easy to manipulate format like text or xml, and can be shared with your colleagues through a version control mechanism, and collaborators can keep versions of the design and iterate over.
  2. Diagram Tools are more accessible. “Typically” the visual studio or sql server licenses are more costly than the diagram tool’s license (this isn’t true always, as some of these tools are more expensive) and even those team members who don’t have visual studio/sql server on their machines can install a diagram tool and get the work done.
  3. The design and diagramming capabilities of visual studio/sql server etc weren’t that great for some of the older versions of them. At that point, the diagram tools offered a much better interface to do the design.
  4. Sometimes it helps to do design in a disconnected and abstract mode. A different tool allows the user to concentrate more on the design aspect up front, visualize the relations etc instead of getting carried away with all the implementation details.

So if you are comfortable doing your design you way in visual studio/sql server, there is no reason why you should go the diagram tool way just because a lot of others do it that way.

Upvotes: 1

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