Re: pro- foreign key propaganda?
From: Bob Badour <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca>
Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 13:40:27 -0300
Message-ID: <4836f382$0$4031$9a566e8b_at_news.aliant.net>
>
> Agreed. I just don't want poetry to be relegated to the domain of mystics,
> and databases to be relegated to the domain of mechanics. Mechanics are
> important to doing things right, no matter what you're doing. Doing things
> right is kind of a waste, if you're not doing the right thing. And figuring
> out what the right thing is can seem downright mystical. At least, so it
> seems to me.
Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 13:40:27 -0300
Message-ID: <4836f382$0$4031$9a566e8b_at_news.aliant.net>
David Cressey wrote:
> "paul c" <toledobysea_at_ac.ooyah> wrote in message
> news:5RzZj.289321$pM4.276671_at_pd7urf1no...
>
>>David Cressey wrote:
>>...
>>
>>>This may be true. But with regard to the value of data in databases, and
>>>the return on the effort involved in building, maintaining, and accessing
>
>>>them, you can't separate meaning from purpose. And you can't separate >>>purpose from outcome. Call me a mystic, if you must. >>> >>>If poetry includes Homer's Iliad, there is quite a bit of mechanics >>>involved in the making of it. >> >>I don't argue with that and from what you've said I wouldn't call you a >>mystic. I was scoffing at the penchant for looking for meaning in a >>data design where none was intended. If one doesn't know the intended >>interpretation, it is a mug's game to guess at it, the design is only >>capable of restricting some of the possible intentions. >> >>(I'd say the mechanics of poetry aren't part of what you call the rdm.)
>
> Agreed. I just don't want poetry to be relegated to the domain of mystics,
> and databases to be relegated to the domain of mechanics. Mechanics are
> important to doing things right, no matter what you're doing. Doing things
> right is kind of a waste, if you're not doing the right thing. And figuring
> out what the right thing is can seem downright mystical. At least, so it
> seems to me.
I think it only seems that way before one knows what metrics to use. Once one understands what to measure, everything becomes much more mechanical. Received on Fri May 23 2008 - 18:40:27 CEST