View

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View

A view in a database is a virtual table that provides a customized view of the underlying data, allowing users to see a specific subset or representation of the data without modifying the original tables. Views are used to enhance data security, improve performance, and simplify data retrieval for specific purposes.

What does View mean?

In Computing, a view is a virtual table that is derived from one or more underlying tables. The view is not physically stored in the database, but is instead generated on the fly when it is accessed. This can provide a number of advantages, such as:

  • Improved performance: By not having to store the view data physically, the database can avoid the overhead of maintaining the data and can instead focus on optimizing the queries that access the view.
  • Increased flexibility: Views can be easily modified to reflect changes in the underlying tables, without having to worry about the physical Storage of the data.
  • Enhanced Data Security: Views can be used to restrict access to certain data, by only exposing the data that is necessary for a particular task.

Applications

Views are used in a wide variety of applications, including:

  • Data warehousing: Views can be used to create logical data models that are tailored to the needs of specific users or applications. This can simplify the process of accessing and analyzing data from the Data Warehouse.
  • Business intelligence: Views can be used to create dashboards and reports that provide users with a real-time view of their data. This can help users to make informed decisions and to identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Data integration: Views can be used to integrate data from multiple sources into a single, unified view. This can make it easier to access and analyze data from different systems.

History

The concept of views was first introduced in the 1970s, as part of the Relational Database model. The first commercial database systems to support views were IBM’s System R and Oracle’s Oracle6. Since then, views have become a standard feature of most relational database management systems (RDBMSs).

In recent years, the use of views has increased significantly, due to the growing popularity of data warehousing and business intelligence applications. Views are now an essential tool for data analysts and other users who need to access and analyze data from multiple sources.