Re: DB clasical structure violation

In article <afa14r$uo6$1_at_sp15at20.hursley.ibm.com>, Paul Vernon <paul.vernon_at_ukk.ibmm.comm> writes
>> Never mind that set theory is just that - THEORY!
>
>Oh, if only English was so precise. Please choose which THEORY definition
>you intend.
>
> http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=theory&r=67
>Say
>"A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or
>phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely
>accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena"
>
>or maybe
>"A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or
>contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation."
>
Both of which are pretty much the same ...

I would say a theory is a logically and mathematically consistent set of statements. That's pretty much your second definition.

This is then proved (using statistics) to be a reasonable approximation to what is observed in the real world, at which point it then falls within the scope of your first definition.

Take Newton's theory of Gravity ... if we exclude "fast" moving objects (eg > c/10) and "massive" objects (eg > earth), we can prove that it matches the real world perfectly well for our purposes.

I look at SQL and set theory in exactly the same way - set theory is a self-consistent view, that, within limitations matches the real world tolerably well. It's just that I seem to have been exposed to a different set of experimental proof, which means that I exclude SQL as a match in far more places than those people who've never met something else. After all, astronomers would find Newton's laws worthless because they regularly work outside those limits I placed on it. And as someone who works all the time with a non-relational database, I find SQL wonderful as an aid, but horribly restrictive as a constraint. You can't fit a square in a circular hole.
>
>Who designed this crazy language anyhow? (anyway?)

We did :-)
>
>Regards
>Paul Vernon
>Business Intelligence, IBM Global Services

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