Re: why hierarchy?
Date: 26 Jul 2006 07:55:35 -0700
Message-ID: <1153925735.237270.293940_at_m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com>
> > I spoke in a recent thread of my distaste for XML from a theoretical standpoint ... I find this return of focus to hierarchical models since 1995 extremely frustrating.
>
> Addressing the idiocy above, the complexity and richness of the data are inherent to the data remaining with it no matter the representation. Increasing the complexity of the representing structures only increases complexity without adding any 'richness' at all. 'Richness' comes from the available operations for manipulating data represented in those structures, which are greatly reduced as the structural complexity increases.
Could someone demonstrate the advantages of XML or RM at representing the simple example shown at www.dbfordummies.com/example/ex007.asp This example represents John and Mary in two hierarchies (without redundancy). In the first hierarchy, John and Mary are children of Adam and Eve who are children of God. In the second hierarchy, John and Mary are part of Mars and Venus respectively which are part of the Universe.