Python sets, frozensets, and literals

There are plenty of other databases out there, object, tree, multi-value, etc etc.

Relational won because Oracle invested in marketing. Pick lost because Dick Pick invested in litigation.

But anything relational can do I can do with Pick. Faster, less hardware, less cpu power, ... AND I HAVE THE MATHS TO PROVE IT.

Einstein said "make things as simple as possible BUT NO SIMPLER". I would argue, very forcefully, that Relational Databases are TOO simple, with the result that the application layer on top has to be more complex, and the net result is that the system AS A WHOLE is much more complicated than it need be.

I'm quite happy to agree with you that it's not the job of a RELATIONAL database to manage the metadata. The problem is, it requires the Business Analyst to MUDDLE UP DATA AND METADATA, which then makes it hell for the programmer.

Because Pick DOES manage data and metadata SEPARATELY, thats why we can hold a schema in our head that would blow the mind of a relational guy. Because we're not actually holding the entire schema, we only need to hold the bit that's relevant to our problem (the relational guy doesn't know what bit IS relevant!). If I'm looking at INVOICE, then everything I need is in the DICTionary (at least it should be, if the previous programmer did his job properly!)

Cheers,
Wol