Simple & practical guide to Data Modeling

I have created a beginner-friendly guide to Data Modeling with practical examples, visual diagrams, and tool recommendations for building better data systems.

What is Data Modeling?

Think of Data Modeling like exploring a new city.

Without a map, you'd be lost, wandering aimlessly. Data modeling is like creating that map for your data.

How to know more about Data Modeling?

Click on any link within the interactive diagram below to directly explore a Data Modeling related topic.

If you are quite new to the concept of Data Modeling, you can start with the Overview of Data Modeling Concepts.

graph LR
    %% Main node
    DM["Data Modeling Approaches"]
    style DM fill:#e5e5e5,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    click DM href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/05-overview_of_data_modeling_concepts.md" "Click for more information"

    %% First level connections
    DM --> RDM
    DM --> GDM
    DM --> SDM
    DM --> DDM

    %% Main approaches - Parent Level 1
    RDM["Relational Data Modeling"]
    GDM["Graph Data Modeling"]
    SDM["Semantic Data Modeling"]
    DDM["Document-oriented Data Modeling"]
    style RDM fill:#ffebee,stroke:#d32f2f,stroke-width:2px
    style GDM fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#1565c0,stroke-width:2px
    style SDM fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    style DDM fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    click RDM href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/10-relational_data_modeling.md" "Click for more information"
    click GDM href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/20-graph_data_modeling.md" "Click for more information"
    click SDM href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/30-semantic_data_modeling.md" "Click for more information"
    click DDM href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/40-json_based_modeling.md" "Click for more information"

    %% First level Implementations - Parent Level 2
    Tables["Tables & SQL"]
    NodesEdges["Nodes & Edges"]
    Documents["JSON Documents"]
    RDM --> Tables
    GDM --> NodesEdges
    DDM --> Documents
    style Tables fill:#ffebee,stroke:#d32f2f,stroke-width:2px
    style NodesEdges fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#1565c0,stroke-width:2px
    style Documents fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    click Tables href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/10-relational_data_modeling.md" "Click for more information"
    click NodesEdges href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/20-graph_data_modeling.md" "Click for more information"
    click Documents href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/40-json_based_modeling.md" "Click for more information"

    %% Tools and Technologies & Semantic specifics - Parent Level 3
    ERTools["ER Diagram Tools"]
    UMLTools["UML Tools"]
    TMFSID["TMForum SID"]
    GraphTools["Graph Database Tools"]
    DocumentTools["Document DB Tools"]
    RDF["RDF - Resource Description Framework"]
    RDFS["RDFS - RDF Schema"]
    OWL["OWL - Web Ontology Language"]
    Tables --> ERTools
    Tables --> UMLTools
    Tables --> TMFSID
    NodesEdges --> GraphTools
    Documents --> DocumentTools
    SDM --> RDF
    SDM --> RDFS
    SDM --> OWL
    style ERTools fill:#ffebee,stroke:#d32f2f,stroke-width:2px
    style UMLTools fill:#ffebee,stroke:#d32f2f,stroke-width:2px
    style TMFSID fill:#ffebee,stroke:#d32f2f,stroke-width:2px
    style GraphTools fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#1565c0,stroke-width:2px
    style DocumentTools fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    style RDF fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    style RDFS fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    style OWL fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    click ERTools href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/120-data_modeling_tools/10-er_diagram_tools.md" "Click for more information"
    click UMLTools href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/120-data_modeling_tools/20-uml_tools.md" "Click for more information"
    click TMFSID href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/200-domain_specific_models/10-tm_forum.md" "Click for more information"
    click GraphTools href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/120-data_modeling_tools/30-graph_data_modeling_tools.md" "Click for more information"
    click DocumentTools href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/120-data_modeling_tools/50-json_based_modeling_tools.md" "Click for more information"
    click RDF href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/31-resource_description_framework.md" "Click for more information"
    click RDFS href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/32-resource_description_framework_schema.md" "Click for more information"
    click OWL href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/33-web_ontology_language.md" "Click for more information"

    %% Semantic Data Modeling specifics - Deeper Level 4
    Triples["RDF Triples"]
    RDFSVocabulary["RDFS Vocabulary"]
    SHACL["SHACL - Shapes Constraint Language"]
    RDF --> Triples
    RDFS --> RDFSVocabulary
    OWL --> SHACL
    style Triples fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    style RDFSVocabulary fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    style SHACL fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    click Triples href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/31-resource_description_framework.md" "Click for more information"
    click RDFSVocabulary href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/32-resource_description_framework_schema.md" "Click for more information"
    click SHACL href "https://github.com/kanad13/data_modeling/blob/master/100-data_modeling_approaches/34-shapes_constraint_language.md" "Click for more information"