Re: New to Databases-books on databases

Kim Goldsworthy <gebegb_at_earthlink.net> wrote:
> What is the meaning of "orthogonal" that C. J. Date keeps mentioning?

Presumably the one given in the Jargon file,

        http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/orthogonal.html : "[from mathematics] Mutually independent; well separated; sometimes, irrelevant to. Used in a generalization of its mathematical meaning to describe sets of primitives or capabilities that, like a vector basis in geometry, span the entire `capability space' of the system and are in some sense non-overlapping or mutually independent. [...]"

> My collegiate dictionary does not list a definition that seems to match
> what Date is saying.

www.dict.org can be very helpful, in particular for definitions/uses that are rather specialised.

HTH,
Ray

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