On 7/19/07, Anthony W. Youngman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
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!
I can't let that one slide by, dear scientist colleague. The
mathematician happily works within the world of mathematics. It is
the scientist, "applied mathematician" (not considered to BE a
mathematician at all by pure mathematicians ;-) ), engineer, or other
practitioner who connects the matheatics to the world.
So, when relational theorists are "doing" relational theory, they are
happily doing mathematics. When they indicate that it is relevant to
software, they are not doing mathematics. Look to the scientists when
you want an example of mis-applied mathematics. In fact, that is
where you found your example. Cheers! --dawn
--
Dawn M. Wolthuis
Tincat Group, Inc. tincat-group.com
Take and give some delight today
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
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