Data Structure Diagram Definition

Data Structure Diagram (DSD) – is a kind of model belonging to the domain of software engineering, which is used for describing the design and relation in between some various data elements pertaining to a system. It gives a graphical view for showing how structured data is related so that it helps developers become familiar with the data model and design a more effective solution in the maintenance of the software or applications. An ERD defines the description of all the data elements with nodes or boxes and expresses the relationships among the data elements as connecting lines or arrows.

Classes for the various types of data elements are made up of entities, attributes, relationships, and constraints. This means that an entity is an object that exists for a given singular system, attributes are definitional properties for the entity, relationships indicate connections or linkage amongst several entities while constraints represent the integrity rules or conditions that govern various features of stored data. This, therefore, means that DSD is a very useful tool in use during the stage of analysis and design system in developing documentation and requirements for communication of general results for the given system. These issues will guide how database schema, tables, and relationships are to be defined.