Analysis of Data Structures to Support the Instance-based Database Model

The instance-based data model has been proposed as a way of conceptualizing data that alleviates many problems associated with existing class-based data models, such as relational and object-oriented approaches. In this paper, we review the instance-based approach and propose alternative data structures to support its implementation. We analyze the complexity of operations under three of these structures and identify the suitability of different structures under different query and update regimes. We also briefly discuss two implementations of this model using two data structures, and outline the results of an empirical test of the performance of each system under a variety of query and update operations.