Where abbreviations are required, they are used consistently. Field names are consistent across all tables. All tables are in, at least, third normal form. For every table defined, at least one view is required. As many other views may be defined as are necessary.
Application software refers to views instead of the tables themselves.
This insulates the application from changes that are made to the underlying tables. All tables, with the possible exception of very small ones with limited growth potential, include a primary key to guarantee uniqueness and enhance performance. Referential integrity is maintained through the use of foreign keys. However, the use of foreign keys to enforce RDI is balanced with the corresponding performance overhead. Table columns used in frequent search operations are indexed to improve efficiency.