Glossary
Type System
What is a Type System?
Type System is the implementation of objects or models (types) in a model-driven architecture. Types represent a data model of the object and its properties, and can be extended or mixed with other type definitions to create more complex data structures. Canonical Schemas define the data structure and relationships of each type, and Canonical Transforms define the steps required to load data from the source system into the Canonical Schema (Type).
Why is a Type System important?
Using a Type System allows for a standard data model that is consistent and uniform across all applications, abstracting the complexity of the underlying data and processes. If application logic is designed and written against the type system, then individual data sources and services can be connected to the type system without requiring changes to the applications built on top. This abstraction layer simplifies the overall implementation process and reduces the complexity of connecting all the different data sources and use cases.
How C3 AI Enables Organizations to Use a Type System
The C3 AI® Platform is a complete, end-to-end platform for designing, developing, deploying, and operating enterprise AI applications at industrial scale. C3 AI Data Integrator is an engine to transform and load data into the C3 AI Platform. It is designed to allow data from any source by providing a set of standard types (schemas) and transforms from any database, file store, cloud repository, or external source system. Transformations can be defined using a simple expression language, and pipelines can be created to perform the initial load and then regular updates on a scheduled or real-time basis. The C3 AI Platform also allows source data to be left in its original location and be accessed on demand as a virtual data lake providing a federated, unified image. Based on recent analysis by an independent system integrator‚ building an application on the C3 AI Platform is at least 26x faster—and is typically 50x-100x faster—than using existing cloud microservices, and the type system is a fundamental reason why.
