Re: Database schemas

"James" <nospam_at_nospam.com> wrote in message news:znsz60b1usqr$.ymccbnqkfau8$.dlg_at_40tude.net...

> Thanks for the explanation, from what you say it seems a schema is
> something internal to a database, not like a table or a relation that you
> can just edit. Have I got the wrong end of the stick here? I know that
> you can tweak databases ie change their internal data structures using SQL
> ie change from B-tree to Isam or something else...if I was creating a
> database tomorrow, would I care about the schema?

BTW, I forgot to mention... yeah a schema is not something you write to directly....
The DBMS writes to it for you when you perform DDL statements.

I should also mention that everything I've said in response to you is a grotesque oversimplification, but I just don't know how to avoid oversimplifying without writing a book.

Second, I'm using the word "schema" in roughly the way Oracle (and I presume DB2, and SQL Server) does. The "Schema" in other types of databases may mean something different.

I'm kinda stuck, so I'll resort to humor:

The easiest way to understand why the schema is so important is to remember the manager who is heard shouting:

"It's too early to be worrying about getting the schema right! We've got to get version one of the application to market right away!"

Six months later the same manager can be heard shouting:

"It's too late to be worrying about getting the schema right! If we change it now, our existing client base will kill us!" Received on Mon Sep 06 2004 - 00:45:14 CEST