Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
When faced with a new database related project, where do you start? Do you first design the database schema, then build the BOM (Business Objects) accordingly? Or, do you first design the BOM, then design the database schema to fit.
I'd suggest that the answer to that varies, in part depending on the type of program.
In the case of a business (or logging etc.) program where a database might have multiple "client" programs, possibly written by different people in different languages, then the principle of top-down design suggests that you start with the schema.
In the case of a program which is using a database for private backend storage and as a configuration registry, then top-down design suggests that schema design might be an ad-hoc activity at a low priority with (at least) a UI mockup done first.
However a common feature is that in both cases a developer would do well to make an early decision as to whether e.g. new rows replace existing ones or are appended, whether e.g. modifications are timestamped and branded with a user ID, and so on. Which suggests that there are some invariant activities which can usefully be done as soon as it's decided to use a database, and possibly before the database implementation is even selected.
-- Mark Morgan Lloyd markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk [Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues] -- _______________________________________________ Lazarus mailing list Lazarus@lists.lazarus.freepascal.org http://lists.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailman/listinfo/lazarus
