System, method and computer program product for database change management

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

• opening a connection from a first computing device to a database maintained by a database server;
• querying the database for a current state of a database schema;
• collecting a snapshot of the database schema for the database, the snapshot comprising a first set of changes representing the current state of the database;
• collecting database profile information comprising row counts of tables;
• receiving a set of proposed changes to the database schema;
• building an in-memory model of the database schema according to the first set of changes, the in-memory model of the database schema comprising a set of model objects modelling tables, columns, primary key constraints, foreign key constraints, and data constraints on the columns of the database, the set of model objects related according to the database schema of the database, the in-memory model of the database schema incorporating at least a portion of the database profile information, wherein building the in-memory model comprises loading an initial model in memory and applying the first set of changes starting with the initial model and wherein the in-memory model comprises:
• table objects representing tables of the database;
• column objects representing columns of the database, each column object related in the in-memory model to a corresponding table object according to the database schema;
• primary key constraint objects representing primary key constraints, each primary key constraint object related in the in-memory model to a column object representing a column of the database to which a corresponding primary key constraint applies;
• foreign key constraint objects representing foreign key constraints, each foreign key constraint object related in the in-memory model to a column object representing a column of the database to which a corresponding foreign key constraint applies;
• data constraint objects representing data constraints, each data constraint object related in the in the in-memory model to a column object representing a column to which a corresponding data constraint applies;
• accessing the in-memory model of the database schema;
• accessing a set of rules comprising rules modelling rules applied by the database and additional user defined rules;
• simulating an application the set of proposed changes to the database, the simulating comprising:
• selecting a change from the set of proposed changes as a selected change;
• mapping the selected change to a command on the in-memory model to update the in-memory model according to the selected change;
• determining if the command violates the set of rules;
• based on a determination that the command violates the set of rules, logging an error in association with the selected change and a state of the in-memory model;
• determining if a result of simulating the application of the set of proposed changes includes at least one error indicative of failure:
• if the result of simulating the application of the set of proposed changes includes at least one error indicative of failure, generating a report indicative of a prediction of a failure, the report including a context of the at least one error indicative of failure;
• and
• if the result of simulating the application of the set of proposed changes does not include at least one error indicative of failure, deploying the set of proposed changes to the database based on a determination that the application of the set of proposed changes would be successful.