The Entity-Relationship (ER) model was originally proposed by Peter in 1976 [Chen76] as a way to unify the network and relational database views.

Simply stated the ER model is a conceptual data model that views the real world as entities and relationships. A basic component of the model is the Entity-Relationship diagram which is used to visually represents data objects.

Since Chen wrote his paper the model has been extended and today it is commonly used for database design For the database designer, the utility of the ER model is:

it maps well to the relational model. The constructs used in the ER model can easily be transformed into relational tables.

it is simple and easy to understand with a minimum of training. Therefore, the model can be used by the database designer to communicate the design to the end user.

In addition, the model can be used as a design plan by the database developer to implement a data model in a specific database management software.