大象传媒

Entities and attributes

Entities

In database design, entities represent what will become tables during implementation.

The term 'entity' is used to describe the following:

  • a person
  • a place
  • an object
  • a thing

Entities are made up of many attributes.

Attributes

Attributes are the specific characteristics of an entity. Attributes will become fields during implementation.

As an example, an entity to store information on a country may include the following attributes:

  • name
  • population
  • continent
  • GDP
  • area
  • currency