TASMEDIA Zend Tutorials

Abstract Data Structures

Abstract data structures look at content in a different way. In an abstract system, content is content. The database's primary responsibility is to store and serve this content, not to make sense of it. This is solely the application's job.

Let's consider a common example to illustrate how this works. Say your CMS has two modules, one that manages news and one that manages events. On the front end of your site, news articles and events are unique items with unique properties. The key here is to look at the underlying data from another perspective, focusing on what these items have in common.

Looking at Table 5-1, it seems like a good idea to create a common content table that serves both news and events. This would work well initially but does not completely resolve the challenge of building a system that meets your current needs as well as those in the future.