Re: does a table always need a PK?

"Paul Vernon" <paul.vernon_at_ukk.ibmm.comm> wrote in message news:<bj2mt3$1174$1_at_gazette.almaden.ibm.com>...

Hi Paul,

> I doubt that lambda calculus is the correct level of abstraction here. Concepts such
> as risk, financial cost etc don't mean much at that level. Not everything can be
> understood at the same level of abstraction.
>

I think we kind-of in agreement on this; Heikki was asking for a formal, mathematical specification of what a database *management system* was, and I was arguing that while a formal specification of such things as concurrency (which aren't part of the relational model) could be achieved, there were a whole host of other issues that weren't really amenable to that sort of analysis. Maybe not terribly well, I'll grant you... :)

• Tony