1️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: The ExpenseCategory model was used as a junction table, creating a many-to-many relationship between Expense and Category.
2️⃣ 𝗨𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆: In most expense management systems, an 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆, making ExpenseCategory unnecessary.
3️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: Instead of having an indirect link via ExpenseCategory, Expense can have a 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗸𝗲𝘆 to Category.
4️⃣ 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Removing ExpenseCategory reduces extra joins, making queries simpler and 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.
5️⃣ 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲: The new approach eliminates redundant code, making entity relationships 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻.
6️⃣ 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: The Category entity remains unchanged, storing names like "Food," "Transport," and "Entertainment" along with descriptions.
7️⃣ 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: The Expense entity now directly includes CategoryId as a foreign key, simplifying data retrieval.
8️⃣ 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: Fetching all expenses under a category no longer requires joining an extra table, making 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗤 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗤𝗟 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁.
9️⃣ 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 & 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: A cleaner design means 𝗳𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗴𝘀, 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 when adding new features.
🔟 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: The ExpenseCategory model was 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲, simplifying the design while keeping it functional.
Top comments (2)
That update makes sense. afaik, junction table are meant to many-to-many relationships. And your situation seems one-to-many.
Thanks a lot William!