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TypeDB Fundamentals

Technical articles on the fundamentals of TypeDB and TypeQL

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Engineering challenges

TypeDB tackles a range of deep engineering challenges, some of which have plagued database engineers for several decades.

Why We Need a Polymorphic Database

Learn how current databases lack the expressivity to natively model polymorphism, leading to object model mismatch, semantic integrity loss, and imperative querying.

Why Object Model Mismatch is Still a Problem

Object model mismatches remain a widespread problem. They manifest under different conditions in relational, document, and graph databases, but common problems always result.

How Semantic Integrity Loss Occurs in a Database

Relational, document, and graph databases are unable to natively describe polymorphic constraints between types, leaving them unable to enforce the semantic integrity of data.

When Declarative Query Languages Become Imperative

Declarativity is considered an essential characteristic of a database query language, but most query languages are not as declarative as they seem at first glance.
 

Core features

TypeDB is based on a novel data model and querying paradigm, which sets the scene for a long list of powerful new features.

TypeDB: the Polymorphic Database

Explore TypeDB's core features in detail, including validated polymorphic data models and declarative querying, and learn about their impact on database engineering.

The Conceptual Data Model of TypeDB

A conceptual data model is a starting point that must be translated into a logical model. As TypeDB uses the PERA model, the conceptual model can be directly implemented without translation.

The Type-Theoretic Language of TypeDB

TypeQL is the type-theoretic query language of TypeDB, allowing for highly expressive querying power beyond the capabilities of other modern database paradigms.

The Strong Type System of TypeDB

The backbone of TypeDB is its strong type system, which powers the resolution of declarative polymorphic queries to determine the possible return types, and the semantic validation of data.

The Symbolic Reasoning Engine of TypeDB

TypeDB's rule inference allows the database to generate new facts based on existing data and user-defined rules. This enables us to create convenient abstractions and capture complex business logic.
 

Data modeling

TypeDB's award-winning data model may look intricate at first, but is grounded in a few simple ingredients that apply to a large variety of data structures.

The Polymorphic Data Model With Types

Learn about the conceptual Polymorphic Entity-Relation-Attribute model that backs TypeDB and TypeQL, and how it subsumes and surpasses previous database models.

From Concepts to Types in Databases

Learn about the general conceptual principles of data organization, and how these principles are made rigorous via types, covering the key terminology used describe TypeDB's data model.

The PERA Model: an In-Depth Guide

Learn about the individual components of the Polymorphic Entity-Relation-Attribute model, and how these components can be efficiently and naturally accessed through TypeQL.

TypeDB's Polymorphic Model: a Comparison

Based on the primitives of TypeDB's polymorphic data model, we often find that migration to TypeDB from other databases becomes a simple and straightforward task.
 

Theoretical foundations

TypeDB and its query language, TypeQL, are firmly rooted in the study of type systems and take close inspiration from modern programming language theory.

Type Theory as the Unifying Foundation for Modern Databases

Discover the powerful unification of paradigms backed by modern type-theoretic mathematics, laying a novel foundation for modern database applications.

How Type Theory Powers Formal Languages

Type Theory is a powerful alternative to Set Theory and has been hugely influential in programming language research. Learn about its fundamentals in the context of databases and query languages.

Polymorphism-Enhanced Conceptual Data Models

Type theory provides a powerful perspective on traditional conceptual modeling techniques, and enables us to further improve models by integrating polymorphism.

The Confluence of Database Languages and Type Theory

TypeDB combines type-theoretic data structures and language with classical database concepts. Its query language, TypeQL, is a direct reflection of this confluence.
 

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Interested in learning more about TypeDB and TypeQL?

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