[postgis-users] Re: Database design book recommendations for the person who asked

[Chris Hermansen]

I'm not at all dismissive of Tutorial D, please don't take me the wrong way!

In his recent interview with O'Reilly, Date compares SQL to Cobol.  I
disklike SQL a lot, but that seems a bit extreme to me, maybe it's the
FORTRAN?  Anyway, as he then goes on to say, it's what we've got and we
have to live with it for awhile longer at least.

But then he makes the point that having SQL doesn't absolve us from
thinking about something better.

Personally, I find it odd that there is not a lot of interest in
developing alternative relational query languages.  There used to be;
remember all those natural language data query products that have more
or less completely disappeared?

There's clearly some pent-up demand for this kind of thing; look at Ruby
on Rails for some ideas on how far people will go to avoid putting SQL
in their code :-)

Anyway, I think Tutorial D is a cool thing, in principle.  I would have
to actually try it out on a real world problem or two before I would be
completely enamored of it, but it certainly looks good!

dnrg wrote:
> Chris and Martin,
>
> Two points for the funnies on Tutorial D (terrible
> name that; but then PostgreSQL doesn't roll off the
> tongue). Bonus points if you can elaborate. When I
> first began reading Date, I felt about as dismissive. 
>
> I realize we must work with the relational database
> implementations and access languages we have. However,
> this doesn't absolve us from doing things as correctly
> as we can. We should probably also do no harm--e.g.
> implement existing standards as faithfully as
> possible.
>
> Wondering who wins the prize for OGC conformance
> regarding spatial database stuff. Oracle Corp, ESRI,
> or PostGIS?
>
> Webb, thanks for the book recommendation. I've ordered
> it. Brushing up on my RDBMS fundamentals. The Mere
> Mortals books I've read mixed reviews on.
>
> Would love some book recommendations on data quality
> and IT project management while we're at it.
>
> Dana
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Regards,

Chris Hermansen · mailto:clh at timberline.ca
tel:+1.604.714.2878 · fax:+1.604.733.0631
Timberline Natural Resource Group · http://www.timberline.ca
401 · 958 West 8th Avenue · Vancouver BC · Canada · V5Z 1E5

C'est ma façon de parler.