Data Independence in DBMS | Types: Physical & Logical Data Independence 

In this tutorial, you will learn about data independence in DBMS and its types.

What is Data Independence in DBMS?

The ability to modify a schema definition without affecting the schema at the next higher level is called data independence. 

All modern applications are based on the principle of data independence. The independence approach is very inflexible because it makes it difficult to modify the data and it also makes the data accessible to other programmers.

Data Independence Diagram

The above diagram shows the data independence and mapping between three levels of the schema ( external, internal and conceptual level ).

Types Of Data Independence

There are two types of data independence in DBMS: physical and logical data independence as given below : 

Physical Data Independence

The ability to modify the physical schema definition without affecting the application programs written at a logical level or conceptual level is called physical data independence.

Logical Data Independence

Logical Data Independence indicates that the conceptual/logical schema can be changed without affecting the external schema. Logical data independence does not affect the higher level (view level).

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