Re: Tarski school influence on Database Theory

On 2015-09-25, vldm10 <vldm10_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Monday, July 20, 2015 at 16:09:59 PM UTC-7, compdb <compdb_at_hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Besides inventing relational algebra, Codd also initiated and championed
>> query safety, integrity, normal forms and other issues involving
>> application of relational algebra to database management, ie the
>> relational model. What really would have helped the database field but
>> that *didn't* happen is if people had paid more attention to what Codd
>> was saying about being relational.
>>
>> philip
>
> (i) Relational Algebra.
> I agree that Codd invented relational algebra.
>
> (ii)
> Integrity and normal forms. Regarding the normal forms, I must say that
> Codd did not invent the "First normal form." As a novice programmer, I
> had the opportunity to witness conflicts among senior project managers,
> that are on this topic. Project managers from one group have used variable
> length of the records, and project managers from another group have used
> records that have a fixed length (that is, they were working with the
> first normal form). In both cases, I had the chance to see a very good,
> very complex and very interesting solutions.
> So the idea of "First normal form" was performed and analyzed in detail
> before Codd. All the advantages and disadvantages of "First Normal Form"
> were well analyzed in very complex cases. Note that variable length of
> records and entities, we can not apply to relations.
>
> It is not true that Codd invented the "First normal form". Codd added
> "First normal form" to relational model, and he gave the name: "The
> first normal form"

Fixed length records can not possibly be the same as first normal form since records are about files and first normal form is about relations. However, I can not see at all how they are even in any way similar to first normal form. So what on earth are you talking about?

Eric

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ms fnd in a lbry