Re: Natural keys vs Aritficial Keys

Walter Mitty wrote:
...
> In the case of stackoverflow, I don't feel quite comforatble dismissing
> those who hold opinions that differe from mine as "semi literates". The
> rest of what they write suggest that they have been building databases for
> some time. At least, that's true for some of them.
> ...

There is really so little that's important to read and yet the vast majority of practioners have not even done that, let alone spent any time on the implications and the holes in the original theory. Maybe one in fifty can discuss fundamentals without lapsing into jargon or confusing theory with implementation. Academia is the same way, perhaps worse, preferring to write papers before they understand their subject.   The big corporations have really been of no help at all. It was a fluke that Codd got anywhere in the first place, at the time he was being paid to study IMS and much of his time, energy and health was dissipated fighting the corporate establishment and various commercial sycophants and vested interests from all corners. I'd even say Date has wasted many words for the similar reason.

The very noisy db literacy lowest-common-denominator crowd have been distracting progress for most of my life, at times I've even been among them, trouble is that most of them don't know they are in that segment and don't understand even when they are told. It is a truism that the stupid and the arrogant usually are incapable of recognizing their own behaviour. That is why politeness has nothing to do with general improvement. Much of all this is true of other fields too, but this one has the advantage of very low cost for truly radical implementations, one or two of which might wake people up, which is the only way out I can see even if it's a long-shot. The chief value of the semi-literates is in their exceptional ability to expose problems , although what they call a problem is often not a real problem, occasionally they unearth a nugget. When they occasionally tout a solution, it is generally an accident. Received on Sat May 16 2009 - 22:54:51 CEST