Path: text.usenetserver.com!out04b.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!in02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!cycny01.gnilink.net!spamkiller2.gnilink.net!gnilink.net!trndny06.POSTED!3abab865!not-for-mail From: "David Cressey" Newsgroups: comp.databases.theory References: <217b9$475842ea$839b4533$21800@news1.tudelft.nl> <5e866$4760384a$839b4533$32042@news1.tudelft.nl> Subject: Re: Another view on analysis and ER Lines: 38 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1478 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1478 Message-ID: Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:35:00 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 72.79.204.207 X-Complaints-To: abuse@verizon.net X-Trace: trndny06 1197491700 72.79.204.207 (Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:35:00 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:35:00 EST Xref: usenetserver.com comp.databases.theory:168071 X-Received-Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:35:00 EST (text.usenetserver.com) "rpost" wrote in message news:5e866$4760384a$839b4533$32042@news1.tudelft.nl... > Jon Heggland wrote: > > [...] > > >Straw man. I don't believe I've said anything in general about the > >qualities of graphical languages versus textual. I merely observed that > >this guy's assumption that analysis = data modeling = drawing something > >is dubious. > > I agree. I wasn't attacking you. However I believe it is just as relevant > to notice that many formally inclined computer scientists work with an > (often tacit) assumption that anything graphical is inherently inexact, > informal, merely illustrative in nature. A diagram does essentially the same thing that a model does: it omits or glosses over some presumably unimportant details, in order to highlight certain features of the thing being modeled. Many of the harshest critcisms of diagrams that I've read in this newsgroup are based on the idea that a good model ought to serve as a blueprint. Some models serve as blueprints. Some don't. Diagrams generally are not detailed enough to erve as blueprints. But they are useful communication tools, nevertheless. > > >-- > >Jon > > -- > Reinier