Canonical schema pattern

Imagine you have a box filled with different toys; some are cars, some are dolls, and some are blocks. You want to organize all the toys and put them in their proper places. So, you create different boxes to hold each type of toy. All the cars go in a box labeled "Cars," all the dolls go in a box labeled "Dolls," and all the blocks go in a box labeled "Blocks." This makes it easier to find a specific toy when you want to play with it.

A canonical schema pattern is like this toy organization system, but for data. When companies collect data, they gather lots of different pieces of information that can be scattered across different systems and in different formats. This can make it hard to use and understand the data.

So, just like you created boxes for different types of toys, a canonical schema pattern organizes data from different sources by creating a standardized template or structure for the data. This template is called a canonical schema.

For example, if a company has information about their customers in different databases, they can use a canonical schema to organize this information into a standardized template. The canonical schema ensures that the information about each customer is put in the same order, format, and structure, regardless of the system it comes from. This makes it easier to combine and analyze the data, and to use it in different applications.

In summary, a canonical schema pattern is like organizing toys into different boxes, but for data. It creates a standardized template for data from different sources, making it easier to understand and work with the data.