Re: Would be really nice if...

Ed Prochak wrote:

> but when you present the reciept for 13 donuts and the boss only saw
> 12, you'll be waiting a long time for that reimbursement check.
>
> Just admit it. select * is not safe.
> Does no one practice defensive programming anymore?

Not people who are totally devoid of formal training in the subject.

SELECT * doesn't belong anywhere in real code. It only belongs in SQL*Plus.

Were Haximus to write code such as SELECT * or SELECT * EXCEPT (if it were valid syntax) in any code I reviewed his qualifications for his job would be put into question immediately.

> One guideline I've tried to follow in my development practice:
> It's not how well it work when it works that's important,
> but how well it works when it doesn't work that's important.

It is similarly important to recognize that some code will not only work today but not tomorrow. Good coders write code that will survive in a dynamic environment.

No doubt Haxi declares variables as:

tabname VARCHAR2(30);

rather than as:

tabname all_tables.table_name%TYPE;

and no doubt writes:

INSERT INTO t VALUES (x,y,z);

rather than

INSERT INTO t (col1, col2, col3) VALUES (x,y,z);

And I'll bet a Starbuck's latte' on it.

> the "select * exclude" syntax doesn't buy you any protection over the
> "select *" but an explicit list Always gets the data it expects.
> Proponents of "select * exclude" are arguing for saving a little
> programmer time now while leaving a big window for future errors.
>
> Ed

Protection? It is just another lazy hack.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)