Entity-relationship modeling: historical events, future trends, and lessons learned

Abstract

This paper describes the historial developments of the ER model from the 70’s to recent years. It starts with a discussion of the motivations and the environmental factors in the early days. Then, the paper points out the role of the ER model in the Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) movement in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It also describes the possibility of the role of author’s Chinese culture heritage in the development of the ER model. In that context, the relationships between natural languages (including Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs) and ER concepts are explored. Finally, the lessons learned and future directions are presented.