Re: citations of nature
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 03:15:14 -0500
Message-ID: <coOdnY6_-Igw82ei4p2dnA_at_golden.net>
"Anith Sen" <anith_at_bizdatasolutions.com> wrote in message
news:zdqKb.11289$6B.2907_at_newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> "mountain man" <hobbit_at_southern_seaweed.com.op> wrote in message
> news:rgfKb.78898$aT.66274_at_news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> > "Dawn M. Wolthuis" <dwolt_at_tincat-group.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Anyone who wants to can define a database as a set, but unless I see
> some
> > > glaring problem with defining it to be what regular people actually
> think
> > it
> > > is (even if adding some precision to the language), I'll continue to
do
> > so.
> > > I suppose someone could define a car engine in an abstract way too...?
> > > Cheers! --dawn
> >
> > I think that the use of these database systems in today's IT shops
> > is sometimes well beyond the scope of their theoretical academic
> > treatment, and that there is a great deal under the hood of the
> > modern rdbms that was not in the database last decade.
> >
> Pete,
>
> The statement, which you seem agree with, is in no way "more practical"
than
> Darwen's observation. In fact, the statement given by Dawn doesn't define
a
> database correctly -- Data in a storage device, with "information about
that
> data", is not a database; just think about it.
>
> A set of propositions is a formal, succinct, clear and generic definition
of
> a database.
>
> To understand why this is the correct interpretation of a database, you
have
> to know precisely what data is, how one should represent data to derive
> maximum benefits, why it is important to separate data storage aspects
from
> data representation etc. These are not academic treatments, as you put it;
> but simple yet crucial fundamentals which you ought to know.
I suggest any rational thinking person would agree that people, in general, see databases as sets of facts. Whether those same people would have the verbal ability to express their vision so succinctly is another matter. Received on Tue Jan 06 2004 - 09:15:14 CET