Re: Pizza Example

Dawn M. Wolthuis wrote:
> "Jan Hidders" <jan.hidders_at_REMOVETHIS.pandora.be> wrote in message
> news:oIBdc.65756$%Y6.4500616_at_phobos.telenet-ops.be...

>>Dawn M. Wolthuis wrote:
>>>"Jan Hidders" <jan.hidders_at_REMOVETHIS.pandora.be> wrote in message
>>>news:KGmdc.65126$bn6.4336759_at_phobos.telenet-ops.be...
>>>
>>>> [...] Could you, just to indulge me, sketch for me what you
>>>> think the trade-offs are and under what circumstances you would
>>>> prefer one type of system over the other?
>>>
>>> That is really the big question I'm trying to answer -- why,
>>> after knowing Oracle and other RDBMS software, would I choose to
>>> go wtih a database that doesn't follow the rules for being a
>>> database?  I'm still trying to pinpoint that myself.
>>
>> So, since you have thought so very deeply about this you surely
>> know the textbook answer to that question. Is your experience in
>> agreement with that answer or does it contradict it?

My experience tells me such broad generalizations are almost always wrong. It is rather obvious that the data independence that is offered by RDBMSs is not absolutely always essential, and there are undoubtedly cases where it makes things in fact more difficult. But I believe it is also fairly well known for which type of organizations, applications and changes it *is* crucial.

If you have made a serious effort to answer "the big question" then you will have checked if those typifications match with your experience. So did they? And if they didn't, can you explain why the common-sense arguments that justify them were incorrect?

• Jan Hidders