Datamalliin

Datamalliin is a fictional chemical compound used in thought experiments that draw parallels between chemical processes and data engineering. It is not recognized as a real substance in chemical catalogs or peer-reviewed literature.

Conceptually, datamalliin is described as a small heterocyclic molecule with a central aromatic core and a set of functional groups that in narratives resemble data channels: a 'ingress' group that accepts input, a 'transformation' zone that mirrors computation, and an 'egress' group that represents output. These features are defined purely for illustrative purposes; no empirical properties exist.

Uses include educational analogies, where datamalliin helps illustrate data integration, normalization, and governance, as well as discussions about pipeline bottlenecks, data fidelity, and latency.

Status: As a contrived concept, datamalliin has no experimental synthesis, no physical samples, and no safety data. Consequently, it is not subject to regulatory assessment and should be treated as a metaphorical construct rather than a chemical entity.

See also: metaphor in science education; data science analogies; data pipelines.