Re: New trend in modern IT consultancy - use your relational database as flat file

From: Jan Gelbrich <j_gelbrich_at_westfalen-blatt.de>
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 12:12:27 +0200
Message-ID: <b9qghg$lcovo$1@ID-152732.news.dfncis.de>

"Dusan Bolek" <pagesflames_at_usa.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:1e8276d6.0305120753.54198e31_at_posting.google.com...
> Greetings,
>
> for last few years I can see a new trend in consulting companies. In
> the past they pretended that their people have some database
> knowledge. However, I think that this is too old fashioned and not
> enough sexy for them. So they started a new era in consultancy.
> In fact all relational theory is obsolete, DB architect position is
> obsolete and any other database related stuff is too boring for them.
> Up to date consultant should be proud that he has no database
> knowlegde, best applications have generated data model with tables
> like this (real world example):
>
> T08000
> -------
> T08000T002005_0: NUMBER
> T08000T007000_0: NUMBER
> T08000T005000_0: NUMBER
> T08000header___: VARCHAR2(4000)
> T08000footer___: VARCHAR2(4000)
> T08000T008000_0: NUMBER
> T08000attribs__: NUMBER
> T08000methodnam: VARCHAR2(32)
>

how about this one ?

CREATE TABLE references
(

    id          number(10),    --well, at least they HAVE an id ...
    field_name   varchar2(100), -- !!!
    content      varchar2(50),  --former-ID from the old, obsolete
COBOL-database !
      --they wanted to have the old ids to "easier recognition" ... i still

donīt get why "content" ...

    description varchar2(255), --put anything you want in it )
/
s
This **CRAP** is the **central table** for most of all other tables inside of one production database
that i came to know about. Of course, they have no fk-constraints, but **multiple** references (up to 10!!!!)
to this table - lets call this "virtual fk-constraints"...

Take this small table (just 3000 rows) away, and the whole system will crash down.
Everything is inside: company names, subsidiaries, tax rates, person role flags,
shipping parameters, and anything you might think of inside a commercial inhouse database.

And they are absolutely convinced that there is nothing wrong with it ... I am donīt know whether to get mad or to LOL about that.

---
It is not the problem of Not-Knowing, everybody starts his life by perfect
naivity.
The problem is - they are deliberately IGNORANT - and that not only because
of
some JAVA programming philosophies !
In combination with stressy deadlines at the job, this is absolutely
dreadful for any project.

It is not a new trend to my mind. It is the consequence of too short product
cycles.

Just an opinion.
Jan Gelbrich

Received on Tue May 13 2003 - 05:12:27 CDT