Summary
RDF is, first and foremost, a system for modeling data. It gives up in compactness what it gains in flexibility. Every relationship between any two data elements is explicitly represented, allowing for a very simple model of merging data. There is no need to arrange the columns of tables so that they “match up” or to worry about data “missing” from a particular column. A relationship (expressed in a familiar form of subject/predicate/object) is either present or it is not. Merging data is thus reduced to a simple matter of considering all such statements from all sources, together in a single place.
The only challenge that remains in such a system is the challenge of identity. How do we have a global notation for the identity of any entity? ...
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