The Separation Model – Part 14 – Data Classification

by Matt Petrowsky

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How is it you know a student from a vendor and a vendor from a teacher? Well, it's all context right? You visit the school to see the teacher and you visit the industrial complex to see the vendor.

As the saying goes, "If life was only that simple." Of course you can find a student at a school OR an industrial complex - the former is every day life and the later is a field trip - Yeah!

Since we can't count on context, we must use something else to identify what's what and who's who. Let's call that thing Data Classification.

Classifying things falls under that wonderful term named taxonomy. It's where you stuff anything you have with the terms which most clearly identifies it - did you get my taxidermy reference? "stuff" - haha.

All jokes aside, this isn't a concept which comes easily to the disorganized database developer. There are many ways to classify your data and knowing which one to use, and when, can be the confusing part. Staunch friends of E.F. Codd will tell you to use as many tables as possible and the finish-it-quick demands of an off schedule project will scream "just add another field".

Without having bias towards either of the extremes, I hope this video will provide a good deal of insight into how to approach your own Data Classification needs!