Backend Models

Define database models by specifying data types, adding constraints like NOT NULL and UNIQUE, establishing foreign keys to other models, and structuring one-to-many, many-to-many, and one-to-one relationships. This ensures data integrity and prevents inconsistencies across your schema.

Structure relationships by clearly defining foreign keys, configuring cascade behaviors, and choosing appropriate relationship types (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many). Add timestamps and indexes to optimize queries while maintaining normalization and data consistency.

Prevent inconsistencies by applying naming conventions, enforcing NOT NULL and UNIQUE constraints at the model level, defining proper foreign keys, and implementing validation rules. This standardizes your schema structure and makes integrity violations impossible at the database level.

Use ORM models to define relationships, constraints, and validations declaratively within your application framework, which handles migrations and type safety. ORM models provide clarity, maintainability, and automatic relationship management compared to raw SQL schema definitions.

Add timestamps (createdAt, updatedAt) to track record lifecycle and indexes to frequently queried columns for performance. While not required for every field, they're essential for audit trails, sorting, and query optimization in production schemas.

Choose data types based on the actual content: use decimal or numeric for prices, integer for counts, text for descriptions, and boolean for flags. Selecting precise types enforces data integrity, prevents type coercion bugs, and optimizes storage and query performance.