Hierarchical database model

A hierarchical database model is a data model in which the data is organized into a tree-like structure. The data are stored as records which is a collection of one or more fields. Each field contains a single value, and the collection of fields in a record defines its type. One type of field is the link, which connects a given record to associated records. Using links, records link to other records, and to other records, forming a tree. An example is a "customer" record that has links to that customer's "orders", which in turn link to "line_items".

The hierarchical database model mandates that each child record has only one parent, whereas each parent record can have zero or more child records. The network model extends the hierarchical by allowing multiple parents and children. In order to retrieve data from these databases, the whole tree needs to be traversed starting from the root node. Both models were well suited to data that was normally stored on tape drives, which had to move the tape from end to end in order to retrieve data.

When the relational database model emerged, one criticism of hierarchical database models was their close dependence on application-specific implementation. This limitation, along with the relational model's ease of use, contributed to the popularity of relational databases, despite their initially lower performance in comparison with the existing network and hierarchical models.^[1]