Re: Relational vs network vs hierarchic databases

I'm not disagreeing that you can view the web as a di-graph, or as a relation as you have it above. But what's the value in it? The web was originally for browsing, and searching (to some extent, given that each page, as you say, can be a block box). Like XML, people are now trying to use it for different purposes than those around which it was engineered, and its sloppy evolution also makes it a far different beast than a database for enterprise support and automation. A business database structured like the web would cause the enterprise to grind to a screeching halt, effectively disable expansion and integration, etc.
- as you can see in any attempt to "data mine" in a legacy system whose
ridigity and lack of support forced its users to misappropriate various fields for their own purposes.

• erk