Re: Indexes and Logical design

From: David Cressey <david.cressey_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 10:05:48 GMT
Message-ID: <0CSVe.12106$FW1.7250_at_newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>


"Gene Wirchenko" <genew_at_ucantrade.com.NOTHERE> wrote in message news:is3ei1t815gfer8cgmjorcok05547uhgp1_at_4ax.com...

> If you want imprecise, talk to end users. They usually do not
> know computers very well, if at all. There is no need to wonder why
> it often takes a long time to get things straight with them.

That is exactly what I want to be able to do. I want to be able to talk to end users, in language they can understand. If that means being imprecise, so be it.

I also want to be able to talk to programmers, and that's what got us started on this particular argument. I don't know how many programmers you've talked to. I've talked to hundreds. and the majority of them believe, correctly or incorrectly, that indexes are part of the logical design. Soo.... when I talk to them, I "muddle together" concepts that you consider to be disjoint or orthogonal, or whatever. Privately, I agree with you. But, for the sake of communicating with programmers, I choose not to fight this battle with them.

Do I try to keep it straight in my own head? You bet! I understand perfectly well the differences between the consequences of bad table design and the consequences of bad index design. And, I did say, If you will look back to the topic starter, that I "very reluctantly" included indexes in the logical model, and that there was a great case to be made for excluding them from the logical model.

That's the difference between me and most of the orthodox thinkers in this newsgroup. Most of you seem to think that a successful database application rests on logical thinking, and nothing more. Logical thinking is crucial, but it's just the beginning. The politics of information, industrial psychology, resistance to change, and a host of other human factors are critical success factors as well.

And to me, the reason I include indexes in logical models is precisely due to these human factors, and not because logic demands it.

Regards,

   Dave Received on Wed Sep 14 2005 - 12:05:48 CEST

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