Also Known As

• Class Table Inheritance

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Intent of Table Inheritance Pattern

The Table Inheritance pattern models a class hierarchy in a relational database by creating
separate tables for each class in the hierarchy. These tables share a common primary key, which in
subclass tables also serves as a foreign key referencing the primary key of the base class table.
This linkage maintains relationships and effectively represents the inheritance structure. This pattern
enables the organization of complex data models, particularly when subclasses have unique properties
that must be stored in distinct tables.