Re: Object-oriented thinking in SQL context?

<dr.coffee1_at_gmail.com> wrote in message news:e0e5c65b-16b8-4d73-ae2e-cc0976ce9550_at_r34g2000vba.googlegroups.com...
> Well, my basic programming training (I'm not a programmer but a
> data analyst by vocation) was in terms of assembler-style GOTO
> constructs and procedural programming.

What does a data analyst do? do you do data analysis?

> Your name and location suggest your native language is English.
> If correct, you likely do not know a second language very well.

I am an exception to your assertion. English is my native language, and I speak one other language quite well.

> Bilingual people will know that different languages tend to be
> useful for expressing different things.

Yes, and there are some things that OO language is not well suited to express. Complex interrelationships in shared data is one such thing.

>My native language is
> not English, but all my professional training was in English.
> Which has had the effect that I am unable to think about
> professinal questions in my native language. I find that I
> always refer to English terms when discussing work.
>

Good for you!

> OO and policies has had the same effect, and have worked well
> enough that I haven't needed to look back. Until I encountered
> databases and SQL.
>

Don't look back. Look forward.

> Ever heard of a 'class'? 'Supertype'? 'Specialization'?
> Teorey uses UML to communicate problems and solutions
> in the context of databases. Just as lots of folks do
> with OO programming. The concepts are the same everywhere.
> Terminology differs.
>

Do a google search on "generalization specialization relational modeling". You'll find several interesting articles on the subject. Most of what you will learn will be overkill for the problem you stated in the OP. But if you are interested in general principles, you'll learn some interesting things from the articles. Received on Wed Jun 10 2009 - 07:17:18 CEST