Re: database systems and organizational intelligence

"Laconic2" <laconic2_at_comcast.net> wrote in message news:AvydnWXh6p7K1SrdRVn-uQ_at_comcast.com...
>
> I think the language is less relevant than the location of constraint
> handling logic.
> I think of contraints listed in the DB and enforced by the DBMS as acting
to
> enforce a contract
> between the writers and the readers of data in the DBMS. Constraints
> enforced at data entry
> time are different.
>
> Having said that, I think that "WHAT rather than HOW" applies here.
Good
> constraint languages will
> let the user (of the language) specify WHAT the constraint is, rather
than
> HOW to enforce it.

Doesn't this imply the intelligence lies within the developer/solution provider? If they know the purpose (the what and how) of the task, they pick the language that minimizes the distraction from the task; for language is nothing more than a tool.

For instance, let's call the task: writing an A/P check. A theorist would certainly try to fit the purpose (the what and how) of issuing an A/P check into the constraints of the language they're working with (C, Java, etc). An accountant would probably pick the language that distracts them the least from the task, issuing the A/P check. I can say there are numerous languages, theories, database constraints that distract greatly from this business related task, in particular, and other business related tasks, in general.

> PASCAL, you will recall, had as its prime mission the support of
> programming courses. Students were not learning, PASCAL, per se, They
> were learning how to program. PASCAL minimized (somewhat) the
distractions
> to the learner due to the quirks and historical accidents in the existing
> 3GL alternatives. At the same time, a person who learned how to program
> well, in a learning evirnment, was well prepared, in theory, for
whatever
> 3GL they had to deal with in progressional life.
>
> So, what are programmers doing today? More importantly, what are they
> going to be doing 5 or 10 years down the road?

One might think about this dilemma. In a world where most computing is solving business problems, because it pays to solve them, is it advisable to turn over this task to those who specialize in language or to those who specialize in business problems. A clean language that offers little distractions will be chosen every time, except by language specialists. :-)

Bill Received on Sat May 29 2004 - 14:46:51 CEST