Re: Is it possible to use a database though any high-level API?

<beachmountain_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message news:1176450433.634346.72770_at_d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> Thank you so much for your answers, I highly appreciate them. I do not
> want to find out later that I was trying to reinvent a square wheel,
> and am glad that your input has indicated that I may be way off in my
> thinking.
>
> Do any of you have the time to point me in the right direction by
> advising any book or article as a starting point?

Not a book, but the following website has a good overview of ER modeling, Relational modeling, and database design. It's heavily summarized, but it's a good way to get the big picture:

http://www.utexas.edu/its/windows/database/datamodeling/dm/overview.html

IMO, it's not necessary to learn as much theory to become a good database designer as it is to become a DBMS engineer. A lot of otherwise good books mix up these two learning objectives.

OTOH, it's necessary to learn more theory to become a good database designer than it is to become a good database application programmer. And it's necessary to learn more theory to become a good database application programmer than it is to become a good query jock.

Unfortunately, many people learn the whole field pretty much on their own:

They learn a tiny bit about database design, and then proceed to implement their first design. Like many first attempts, it's profoundly deficient. They then proceed to learn database application programming, using their lousy database as a platform. Unfortunately, they learn all the wrong things at this level, because they have never seen a well designed database.

Then they learn how to load, administer, and query the monstrosity they have developed. By this time, the deviations between what they are doing and learning and good practices are so monutmental, that it's as bad as if they didn't know anything at all.

>
> I do want the guaranteed integrity and relational computations offered
> by databases. But my highest concerns are flexibility and
> extensibility. Is it not impossible/unwise to create an application
> where changes and extensions to the bussiness model are automatically
> reflected in the the database part of the application? Which methods/
> technologies should I (if possible/recommended) look into to achive
> this?
>
> If objects are for GUIs, and the database is relational, what should I
> use for the business model to translate between the two of them?
>
> A little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing, but I am trying to
> drink deep to get as sober as possible =)

Pedantry alert!

what Thomas Jefferson actually said was "little learning is a dangerous thing". It's often paraphrased as "a little learning is a dnagerous thing." The two don't mean the same thing. I think that no learning at all is more dangerous than a little learning. I believe Jefferson would have agreed.

Good luck, and don't stop learning.
>
> Thanks again for your help,
> /Fredrik
>
Received on Fri Apr 13 2007 - 16:24:22 CEST