Kimball vs Inmon: Why Kimball is Better for Analytics
I have been learning dbt recently and wanted to get a better understanding of data warehousing methodologies. Two of the most well-known ones are the Kimball and Inmon approaches. In this post, I will explain the key differences between the two and why Kimball is generally considered better for analytics. Kimball (Dimensional Modeling) Kimball’s approach uses a star schema with two main types of tables: Fact Tables: Store measurable events (sales amount, quantity sold, order totals). These are the “what happened” of your business. Dimension Tables: Store descriptive context (customer info, product details, dates). These answer “who, what, where, when.” The star schema looks like this: ...