Re: The term "theory" as in "database theory"

dawn <dawnwolthuis_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm interested in your choice of #1 because I think it has to be this
> perspective that gets any mention of Occam's razor into the mix.

I could care less about Occam's razor, really. I included #1 to balance #3, because it is clear that the relational model of databases is not a mathematical theory in any true sense. It is an application of some ideas from mathematics, but is also shaped by the challenges and ideas that have come up in the process of handling real data. There are an infinite number of mathematical theories that are all equally effective at representing data; there is an outside reason that this one, in particular, and with these specific adaptations and modifications, has been so widely used; and that must come from natural phenomena in some way.

That said, I didn't claim it as a true definition; only as an idea that contains some aspects of a true definition. I still think "music theory" is closer to a similar usage of the term.

-- 
Chris Smith