Re: What are we asking of a data model?

"Dawn M. Wolthuis" <dwolt_at_tincat-group.com> wrote in message <news:btim0m$516$1_at_news.netins.net>...

> I'm sure we cannot get unanimous agreement on this, but can we get a good
> statement of what it is we are trying to accomplish with a data model?
>
> For example, it seems that some are asking a question such as "What
> mathematical model for structuring data is the simplest we can find for
> hosting predicates and related propositions?" (and I'm sure someone else
> can word that better, so please take a crack at it)
>
> while others are asking: "which data model is most likely to yield database
> implementations that are the most cost-effective for the development and
> on-going maintenance of software applications?" (again, not a
> perfectly-stated question).
>
> I am looking for answers to the latter question. My interest is in data
> models whose implementations yield software developer productivity both with
> initial development of applications and on-going support.
>
> If we were able to set up a contest to collect emperical evidence from
> various data model implementations and how they relates to developer
> productivity, would that have any bearing on this discussion or would some
> database theorists consider such scientific (emperical) data collection to
> be irrelevant to what they care about? I recognize that no implementation
> perfectly matches a mathematical model, so perhaps some are more interested
> in comparing only the models and not looking at what these models have to do
> with actual database implementations.
>
> Thanks for any insight you can give on this. --dawn

Here's some empirical implementation information for you:

 URL:http://mcjones.org/System_R/bs12.html

--
Joe Foster <mailto:jlfoster%40znet.com>     On the cans? <http://www.xenu.net/>
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