An Object-Oriented Database with B-Trees

Abstract

A simple people database will be developed and implemented employing an array and B-tree objects. A B-tree is a useful and de facto standard data structure for external searching, and sorting, and database programming. The efficiency and usefulness of the B-tree lie in its important features — balanced, ordered multiple keys in a single node, grouping of keys, and its controlled growth. In this chapter, the simple object-oriented people_ld database is used to convey the basic ideas such that it can be adapted to any modification to suit an application. This application forms a B-tree object from an array of keys, and demonstrates the message-passing technique between a people_ld database object pdb_obj and a B-tree object btree_obj.