Linus has a way with words. [LWN.net]

Linus has a way with words.

Posted Apr 11, 2005 7:42 UTC (Mon) by Wol (guest, #4433)
In reply to: Linus has a way with words. by dmarti
Parent article: Linus codes up a patch manager

For those people who aren't professional database programmers ...

SQL is a query language meant to address relational databases. But the pro relational guys hate SQL with a vengeance because it ISN'T relational.

And for those people here who remember me, I think relational is crap because, despite all the claims that "it is built on maths", when I read C&D's twelve rules, all I see is a list of requirements to make the database programmer guy's life easier (that's the guy writing the database engine, not the guy writing programs that use the engine).

A quick challenge - take a look at the twelve rules, and see if you can find ONE that could reasonably be taken to be a mathematical axiom, rather than a "constraint of convenience".

Cheers,
Wol

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Linus has a way with words.

Posted Apr 11, 2005 8:59 UTC (Mon) by jdv (subscriber, #712) [Link]

> take a look at the twelve rules

Could you post a link?

Linus has a way with words.

Posted Apr 11, 2005 14:29 UTC (Mon) by Wol (guest, #4433) [Link]

http://www.itworld.com/nl/db_mgr/05072001/pf_index.html

(as found by Google :-)

Actually, I think I'd probably classify just *one* as an axiom - all data must have an unambiguous reference.

The rest of it simply defines what makes a relational (as opposed to any other) database. A bit like Euclid's "parallel lines never meet" defines the *sub*set of geometry that is Euclidean, but does not define geometry itself (and, in defining a subset, defines itself as a constraint not an axiom).

Cheers,
Wol