ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Entity-relationship diagram

An entity-relationship diagram is like a family tree for information. Just like you have grandparents, parents, brothers, and sisters in a family tree, an entity-relationship diagram shows how different pieces of information relate to each other.

Each piece of information is called an entity, and it can be a person, a thing, or an idea. For example, in a library system, an entity could be a book, a borrower, or a librarian.

The relationships between entities are shown with lines that connect them. For example, there might be a line connecting a book to its author, or a borrower to the books they have checked out from the library.

By looking at an entity-relationship diagram, you can see how different pieces of information are related and how they fit together. It helps people understand how a system works and what information is needed to make it work correctly.