Re: Syntacs, Semantics, and the Problem Domain

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 20:37:19 GMT, "David Cressey" <dcressey_at_verizon.net> wrote:

>The person who understands the problem domain, sometimes, called the
>"subject matter expert" is the most underrated stakeholder in the majority
>of large scale database application projects. Especially when you consider
>the projects that go awry because the subject was not well enough
>understood when version one was frozen.
>
>In any event, I finally got my answer as to whether a pizza has a set of
>toppings or a list. More importantly, I got an answer about whether we
>should look to the problem domain or the system's responsibilities to find
>the answer: we should look to the problem domain. In other words if you
>really want to know, ask somebody who runs a pizza parlor. If that person
>is a franchisee, he may have to accept the franchisor's answer to the
>question, or lose his franchise. But that's where the answer lies.
>
>Now let me turn to the question of syntax and semantics: If I design schema
>of tables, the syntax of tables is going to make it look like the set of
>toppings is a set, not a list. If I design a pick file to hold the same
>data, it's going to look like the set of toppings is a list, just because
>the convenience of using the multivalue feature is, in this case, going to
>overwhelm any other design considerations.
>
>That makes it seem as though the question is a syntactic one, and platform
>dependent to boot. But it isn't. It's really semantics. Now, most of the
>problems I have with the comments of pickies generally in c.d.t. is that,
>nearly always, they come down to the idea that a team consisting of two or
>three pickies are so very productive that they can provide all the technical
>services to support and run a large scale database.
>
>I don't think so. I remain unconvinced. And unless there is a FORMAL
>vehicle for speading understanding about :what the data really means" among
>all stakeholders, the road leads to hell.

BRAVO!!! Your post should be required reading for everyone taking Database 101.

--
Bob Hairgrove
NoSpamPlease_at_Home.com