--- title: Scratch a simple data model, find a complex one | daily.dev description: Jon Skeet walks through the process of modeling the text of the Bible as a C# data structure, starting with a deceptively simple record-based design (Bible →... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/scratch-a-simple-data-model-find-a-complex-one-r8kupwf24 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Scratch a simple data model, find a complex one | daily.dev og:description: Jon Skeet walks through the process of modeling the text of the Bible as a C# data structure, starting with a deceptively simple record-based design (Bible →... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/scratch-a-simple-data-model-find-a-complex-one-r8kupwf24 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/R8KuPWF24.png og:image:alt: Scratch a simple data model, find a complex one og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Scratch a simple data model, find a complex one **[Jon Skeet's coding blog](https://daily.dev/sources/jonskeet)** · 16 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Jon Skeet walks through the process of modeling the text of the Bible as a C# data structure, starting with a deceptively simple record-based design (Bible → Books → Chapters → Verses) and then progressively revealing real-world edge cases that break it: verse ranges spanning multiple text chunks, out-of-order verses between translations, subverse splits (25a/25b/25c) appearing out of sequence, missing verses, alternative verse numbering schemes, books with only one chapter, Psalm 151 existing only in some translations, mid-verse chapter boundaries, Mark's two alternative endings, and Greek Esther's wildly interleaved and renumbered chapters. Each oddity forces an incremental redesign of the record types, culminating in a more flexible model using ChapterSection, VerseNumber, and chapter Number fields. The piece closes with a general framework for deciding how much fidelity a data model needs: skip it, embrace the complexity, or find a middle-ground compromise. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Text-to-SQL is a definition problem: build the canonical model first](https://daily.dev/posts/text-to-sql-is-a-definition-problem-build-the-canonical-model-first-yhnvzkidi) · dltHub · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Your Data Model Is the Semantic Layer](https://daily.dev/posts/your-data-model-is-the-semantic-layer-ro8bktzht) · MotherDuck · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Beyond Text Splitting: Building a Chunking Strategy Library for ODC](https://daily.dev/posts/beyond-text-splitting-building-a-chunking-strategy-library-for-odc-nlpaupgtr) · ITNEXT · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Many Languages of Data: How .NET Learned to Speak in Formats](https://daily.dev/posts/the-many-languages-of-data-how-net-learned-to-speak-in-formats-56sn8nk5g) · We Are .NET · 41 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#general-programming](https://daily.dev/tags/general-programming), [#c#](https://daily.dev/tags/c#) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/scratch-a-simple-data-model-find-a-complex-one-r8kupwf24) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Scratch a simple data model, find a complex one","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/scratch-a-simple-data-model-find-a-complex-one-r8kupwf24","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/scratch-a-simple-data-model-find-a-complex-one-r8kupwf24"},"datePublished":"2026-10-04T13:06:47.501Z","dateModified":"2026-10-04T13:15:12.911Z","description":"Jon Skeet walks through the process of modeling the text of the Bible as a C# data structure, starting with a deceptively simple record-based design (Bible →...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8f61ef38555c67fb7a5b3914f15e9749?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8f61ef38555c67fb7a5b3914f15e9749?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Jon Skeet's coding blog","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Jon Skeet's coding blog","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--B4KVP-_K--/f_auto,q_auto/v1791119047/logos/jonskeet?_a=BAMAMicg0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/jonskeet"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/scratch-a-simple-data-model-find-a-complex-one-r8kupwf24","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"general-programming,c#","timeRequired":"PT16M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jon Skeet's coding blog","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/jonskeet"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Scratch a simple data model, find a complex one"}]} ```