Re: theory and practice: ying and yang

Kenneth Downs wrote:
> mountain man wrote:
> >
> > Other implications include the possibility that Date has made the
> > subject of database systems theory unnecessarily esoteric and
> > pedantic, at the expense of usefulness.

I completely disagree - Date's writing is readable, comprehensible, and practical. Whatever feelings Fabian Pascal stirs up, I get a generally congenial air from Date's writings, so I don't think it's a personality issue. Maybe it's just me...

> Neatly returning us to the original subject. The "pure" RM has an odor of
> sterility to it. It is telling that nobody has ever implemented it fully.

Yes, it's telling, though we might draw different conclusions on what's being told. "Odor of sterility" is common in all theories, isn't it? For example the Lambda calculus, though powerful languages exist which use it fairly directly. There are even various theories of objects, though the OO languages go on their merry way ignoring said theory (for the most part).

• Eric