The database development process including design, construction, and optimization of the database.

The database development process can be broken down to several distinct phases and activities. The initial database design is constructed after detailed requirements are gathered from the stake-holders and various database users. The design is carefully reviewed to insure that the database elements exactly match the needs of the database users. The database designers also need to note any areas that require custom database programming or specialized database interfaces.

Once the database design is complete the database architects work to construct the database model, which will typically contain the database dictionary, table definitions, data relationships, and definitions for any database triggers and stored procedures. This model will be used by the database programmer to construct the actual database and associated software procedures. The database developers will also use the model to define the custom database software requirements for external database interfaces.

Once the database is constructed and tested, the custom business software required to operate the database is built and tested. A rigorous test procedure is used to insure that the actual custom database and the associated custom software meet all of the requirements defined during the database design phase.