Final answer:
Object-oriented databases store data as objects, offering benefits like enhanced modeling, improved performance on complex data, advanced queries, and support for reuse and extensibility.
Step-by-step explanation:
An object-oriented database (OODB) is designed to store, retrieve and manage objects as units of data, rather than rows and tables as in relational databases. One of the key features of an OODB is its ability to store complex data and relationships directly, without the need for mapping to a relational schema. This includes the storage of multimedia items and complex data structures, such as those commonly used in computer-aided design and manufacturing.
The benefits of using an OODB include:
- Enhanced modeling capabilities, allowing for a more natural representation of objects as they exist in the application domain.
- Improved performance for certain types of operations, particularly those involving complex data relationships and retrieval.
- Advanced query capabilities that can follow object relationships.
- Reuse and extensibility due to the inheritance properties inherent in object-oriented databases.
Overall, object-oriented databases provide a higher level of abstraction and closer alignment with object-oriented programming paradigms. They are particularly useful in domains where the data is naturally represented as objects such as engineering, simulations, or multimedia applications.