Originally posted by --Celko--
> >> Is it really worth adding an 'S' to every table name in the
> world
> just to remind ourselves that there is more than one record [sic] in
> it? > If so, should we pluralise all the column names too for the same
> reason - e.g. there are many employee names in the "employee_name"
> column? :) <<
>
> No, because the values of a COLUMN (not a "record" -- totally
> different concept!) are scalars. Saying "employee_names" would mean
> that you have crowded several names in one column, in violation of
> First Normal Form.
I know that, I was being facetious! But then, the term COLUMN is
misleading as it implies (from analogy with a "table" in a book), a
vertical set of many values - each individual value belonging to a
single row/record[sic]/tuple of course. The term ATTRIBUTE doesn't have
that connotation.
I guess I was just brought up badly, with singular table names, and I
find plural table names somewhat pedantic. I'll try to get over it! At
least you'll never find a "tbl" prefix on one of my tables though...
--
Posted via http://dbforums.com
Received on Fri Apr 11 2003 - 10:58:13 CDT
