In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Mats Carlid <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
I really wanted to express two opinions : 1. RDBMS is not more pure maths than Pick.is. It's just a heavily restricted special case of abstract relation theory. It's more restricted than Pick. The restirctions are from a 'pure' mathematical point of view totally arbitrary - but justifiable from an engineering standpoint - except the 1NF of course :-)
Are they? I can't remember the rules off-hand, but I did an analysis on pickwiki, and I think several of them are untenable from a scientific viewpoint.
2. RDBMS is not anywhere near the abstraction level of the general theory of relations and certainly is not the mathematical relation theory - as sometimes advocated.
Ummm ... but as Dawn says, a lot of its advocates treat it as a mathematical model - and then use that to try and PREscribe how the world is supposed to work - a mathematical trait if ever there was one!
Cheers, Wol -- Anthony W. Youngman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 'Yings, yow graley yin! Suz ae rikt dheu,' said the blue man, taking the thimble. 'What *is* he?' said Magrat. 'They're gnomes,' said Nanny. The man lowered the thimble. 'Pictsies!' Carpe Jugulum, Terry Pratchett 1998 Visit the MaVerick web-site - <http://www.maverick-dbms.org> Open Source Pick ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/
