BCA / B.Tech 11 min read

Data Abstraction in DBMS

Data Abstraction in DBMS:

Data Abstraction is the process of hiding irrelevant or complex details about how data is stored and maintained, and showing only the essential information to the users. It simplifies user interaction with the database. There are three levels of data abstraction:

  1. Physical Level (Internal Level): This is the lowest level of abstraction. It describes how the data is actually stored on the storage device. It deals with complex low-level data structures, files, and indexes. This level is typically hidden from programmers and end-users.
  2. Logical Level (Conceptual Level): This is the middle level of abstraction. It describes what data is stored in the database and what relationships exist among that data. The entire database is described in terms of a small number of relatively simple structures. Database administrators work at this level.
  3. View Level (External Level): This is the highest level of abstraction. It describes only a part of the entire database that is relevant to a particular user. It creates different views of the same database for different users, hiding the details of the logical schema and enhancing security.