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Type Inheritance and Relational Theory
Type inheritance is that phenomenon according to which we can say, for example, that every square is also a rectangle, and so properties that apply to rectangles in general apply to squares in particular. In other words, squares are a subtype of rectangles, and rectangles are a supertype of squares. Recognizing and acting upon these subtype/supertype relationships provides numerous benefits: Certainly it can help in data modeling, and it can provide for code reuse in applications. Many languages, including the standard database language SQL, have long supported these relationships. However, there doesn’t seem to be any consensus in the community at large on a formal, rigorous, and abstract model of inheritance. This book proposes such a model, one that enjoys several advantages over other approaches, not the least of which is that it’s fully compatible with the well known relational model of data.
Chris ...
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