Hi Ovid

You don't give an example of the awful database design, but assuming its similar to some of my experiences I would offer these few words of caution;

Difficulties arising from ambiguities in the database design should not be underestimated. Columns (attributes) that are semantically overloaded or poorly defined will continue being problematic regardless of abstraction.

Lack of normalisation, and the accompanying risk of data corruption, is easy to overlook when building an object-relational mapping or a phrasebook. Can you afford to aim for 3NF? (Can you afford to not?)

And finally some rhetoric which may or may not be helpful; Poor foundations will sabotage anything built on top.

Cheers, and good luck!

 

In reply to Re: Creating a model of a bad database by EdwardG
in thread Creating a model of a bad database by Ovid

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