>consistency needs to be the main focus yeah, but doesnt using plurals mean you cant be consistent?
as per s.isaacs post: user(s) address(es) as for the "box of developers" scenario: perhaps this has more to do with the english language, but there are also examples to prove the opposite. lets say I like the magazine FHM, and I have so many that I keep them in a box. Now, do I label the box "FHMs" or simply "FHM"? Which one "sounds" right? I dont think the way it "sounds" is really relevant, I think the fact that each row in the database "is a" (name of table) is logic that most/a lot/some???? developers like. -----Original Message----- From: Ken Ferguson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 30 March 2005 14:57 To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Table name - Singular or plural? Now that's how I like to start my day -- with a little comedy. I also like to use the plural naming convention, but I can't say that the difference is of any consequence whatsoever. As has been pointed out several times, consistency needs to be the main focus. Thanks Paul! --Ferg -----Original Message----- From: Paul [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 7:39 AM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Table name - Singular or plural? > Major Red Herring. Actually I think it's Lieutenant Red Herring - he got busted because they thought he was up to something fishy. But that's not relevant... > [plural table names] simply makes no sense at all is pretty silly. I know that most developers use singular table names, but a plural naming convention is certainly not nonsense. Let's say Will goes on a power trip and decides to sort out all of us CF developers. I mean physically sort us. He grabs Ben Forta, Ray Camden, and Joe Rinehart first, and throws them into an empty wine cooler box. Then he grabs his Sharpie marker and labels the box: SmartCFers. Sean Corfield, who's in town for a cat show, stops by for a drink with Will and sees the box. He explains that the box could be better named. He scribbles out SmartCFers and writes Developer, because like a lot of us he prefers a singular convention. And besides, since Will joined AA he doesn't have enough wine cooler boxes to store all the other possibilities like DumbCFers, MediocreCFers, NewbieCFers. Later that week Mike Nimer and his super-model-class girlfriend Angie stop by Will's place. (You might think Will's surprisingly popular with the MM crowd, but actually he just owes Mike money.) Angie, who for the sake of this "red herring" ;) has no predisposition towards either singular or plural conventions, sees the box labeled Developer and asks, "Which developer have you got in the box?" Will opens up the box and Ben, Ray, and Joe, who have been discussing the merits of three-letter first names, wave politely. Angie says "That doesn't make sense. You should label that box 'Developers' because you have more than one in there." This is entirely goofy, but my point is that we group data into plural "things" mentally, so referencing a collection as a singular "thing" in a db system doesn't make any sense. We are, after all, naming the box that holds Developers, and in our FROM clause we are always referring to the entire collection, not to a specific record. Thus, to me, it makes more sense to name the tables as plurals and, where appropriate, name my query objects singularly. -----Original Message----- From: Dave Watts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 9:50 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Table name - Singular or plural? How so? In any case, I think you mean it's a false analogy, not a "red herring", since this isn't a detective story. > Exactly my point. The tables represent *collections*. Plural. Yes, but each record within a table is a product, or a person, or whatever kind of data you're dealing with. To the extent that you want your relationships to sound sensible, it makes more sense to talk about a product being related to a category, rather than products being related to categories. But again, it really isn't that important a decision, and for one to say that the other simply makes no sense at all is pretty silly. Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ Fig Leaf Software provides the highest caliber vendor-authorized instruction at our training centers in Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, or on-site at your location. Visit http://training.figleaf.com/ for more information! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware (www.logware.us): a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. 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