Re: Modeling question...

On Oct 23, 12:09 pm, paul c <toledobythe..._at_oohay.ac> wrote:
> David BL wrote:
>
> ...
>
> > If the relational model is universally applicable, why don’t
> > programmers enter their programs as relations? ...
>
> That is one of the most fundamental questions. At the risk of sounding
> like I'm sloughing it off, I'd say the answer has to do with tedium and
> lies somewhere near the fact that we have shortcuts and shorthands to
> give equivalent results and our human situation, limitations in
> momentary perception such as our shallow mental stack.

Many programs, or parts thereof, reduce to SQL expressions over data. Programmers who don't understand RM well tend to under-use it for computation. A declarative expression can often elide a lot of imperative tedium. Received on Thu Oct 23 2008 - 21:55:05 CEST