Re: what data models cant do

From: Paul <paul_at_test.com>
Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 17:48:33 +0100
Message-ID: <428a2060$0$26114$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net>

Kenneth Downs wrote:

>>Non IT people understand relations very well too. IMO business people
>>tend to understand relations and set theory better than IT people.

>
> Yes, indeed. I formulated my "law" when I observed that people of any
> technical background or management level could actually conduct very
> productive meetings together if they stuck to the detailing of what should
> be kept in tables. There is something in the human mind that easily works
> with tabular data.
>
> I believe, completely without proof, that this human intuition is ultimately
> behind both the success of spreadsheets and the relational model. It is
> what gives us our sense that the relational model is "elegant".

I disagree; I think the relational model is actually counter-intuitive.

If you've ever seen (or been) a database novice, the instinct is to stick everything in one big table, because they then feel it is easy to get at what they want without having all those complicated joins getting in the way.

It just goes to show that intuition isn't always right (cf. quantum mechanics, relativity, etc.).

I think the sense of elegance stems from the fact that every fact is stored in one place only.

Paul. Received on Tue May 17 2005 - 11:48:33 CDT