Re: <bits OT> dbdebunk 'Quote of Week' comment
From: BobTheDataBaseBoy <"xxx>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 21:42:05 -0400
Message-ID: <hJWdneyPOJexTZbeRVn-uw_at_rcn.net>
>
>
> Look, I'm in favor of education as much as the next man. A significant part
> of my career was as an instructor for DEC.
>
> And there's no question that about half the databases being built today
> would be better built if the builders knew how to design a database at least
> halfway decently. I'm not being a devil's advocate here. But religious
> sermons hold back the tide about as well as king Canute's command did.
>
> Another question is, how many of the programmers are among the great
> unwashed, and why is this the case?
>
> The deeper question, IMO, is whether databases are still being used as a
> tool for integrating data, and making it more widely accessible, or
> whether most of today's databases are private parts of an application, and
> there is no useful information to be obtained via SQL, knowing only the
> business model and the metadata. By "more widely accessible" I mean useable
> in more contexts, not just by more people.
>
> Programmers will always gravitate towards viewing the data in "their
> databases" as their private bailiwick, and insist that users of the data
> access it through their own API. Learning SQL is certainly better than
> learning a hundred programmer's different APIs.
>
can you please go yell at the knuckleheads i work with?? half are COBOL/VSAM
refugees of an older age. the other half are java/object folks of a much younger age. neither half realizes that they both do the same thing. it is very frustrating to hear talk of "open systems". blech.
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 21:42:05 -0400
Message-ID: <hJWdneyPOJexTZbeRVn-uw_at_rcn.net>
David Cressey wrote:
> "Frank_Hamersley" <terabite_at_isat.bigpond.com> wrote in message
> news:HKZNe.6342$FA3.4435_at_news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
>
>>> Celko is right in his diatribe, but he lays it on too thick. >> >>Perhaps - he made the best point in another post (excuse my paraphrasing) >>that the problem is not the use of surrogate keys per se, but more the use >>of identity columns for PK's. I guess in the hands of the great unwashed >>there is not much distinction between the two acts, and religious sermons >>might prove to be the most effective way to try and hold back the tide. >>
>
>
> Look, I'm in favor of education as much as the next man. A significant part
> of my career was as an instructor for DEC.
>
> And there's no question that about half the databases being built today
> would be better built if the builders knew how to design a database at least
> halfway decently. I'm not being a devil's advocate here. But religious
> sermons hold back the tide about as well as king Canute's command did.
>
> Another question is, how many of the programmers are among the great
> unwashed, and why is this the case?
>
> The deeper question, IMO, is whether databases are still being used as a
> tool for integrating data, and making it more widely accessible, or
> whether most of today's databases are private parts of an application, and
> there is no useful information to be obtained via SQL, knowing only the
> business model and the metadata. By "more widely accessible" I mean useable
> in more contexts, not just by more people.
>
> Programmers will always gravitate towards viewing the data in "their
> databases" as their private bailiwick, and insist that users of the data
> access it through their own API. Learning SQL is certainly better than
> learning a hundred programmer's different APIs.
>
can you please go yell at the knuckleheads i work with?? half are COBOL/VSAM
refugees of an older age. the other half are java/object folks of a much younger age. neither half realizes that they both do the same thing. it is very frustrating to hear talk of "open systems". blech.
BTDB Received on Wed Aug 24 2005 - 03:42:05 CEST