Re: Beginner help needed in database design

From: DA Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu>
Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 09:17:44 -0800
Message-ID: <1107364501.962688@yasure>

Frank van Bortel wrote:

> DA Morgan wrote:
>

>> Frank van Bortel wrote:
>>
>>> One thing strikes as odd: primary keys are a techie thingy, something
>>> most database systems need internally; it's not a design, nor a logical
>>> thing - it's the implementation.
>>
>>
>>
>> Whoa ... time out. Excuse me. And utterly untrue. No database I can
>> think of "needs" a primary key. Common sense, data integrity,
>> performance, and scalability demand them.
>>
>> Everything else you said made sense so where did this come from?

>
> Right - wrong word.
>
> There's no need to use primary keys, but -if used- a primary
> key is a technical aspect, not a conceptual or modelling (or
> modeling for the other English speakers) thing.
>
> Hope that's more like it, and apologize for any confusion

My faith is restored. Thanks.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)

Received on Wed Feb 02 2005 - 11:17:44 CST