Re: Surrogate/Identies for all keys

JRStern wrote:

> I went to a presentation the other day, the speaker suggested she
> always uses surrogate/integer/identity keys -- always!
>
> This seems to be an *increasingly* common practice, with some
> variations using UIDs or other non-significant surrogates.
>
> I know Joe Celko disapproves, and I find myself in complete agreement
> with what I've read from him on this subject. But, are we a couple of
> old fogies, when all the kids are using surrogate/identities all the
> time?

Call me an "old fogie" too ... *and* I've pretty much given up on try to find excuses for *not* using a surrogate PK in the /implementation/ model. I've found I too often regret it even on those rare occasions when I thought I could justify avoiding it.

Hmmm ... so I always use a surrogate ... does that relegate me to *new* fogie?? I'll take it! :-)

But I also expect /at least/ one additional Unique Identifier (UI), which would be the "business" identifier.

And, by implication I think, a FK can be part of an UI /only/.

Sorry ... Barry J. Received on Thu Feb 08 2001 - 05:18:51 CET