Ajai Khattri wrote:
On Wed, 12 Sep 2007, Kenneth Downs wrote:
... We accept the obligation
to learn HTML, CSS and Javascript, and even a few things about HTTP
headers and so forth, but we think it is optional to learn SQL and to
treat the database as what it is. That really puzzles me. The only
explanation I can come up with is people must be using really simple
databases so that the inefficiencies at large table counts just never
show up.
OR
I think what you're saying here kind of proves my point. HTML and CSS are
easy to learn no matter if you're a programmer or not. And in the OOP
world, JavaScript, Ruby, Python, C++, Java are all similar enough that
most programmers will find the learning curve fairly shallow. Learning
about database design, normalization and SQL is outside of both of those
worlds.
It seems we are saying the same thing on a crucial point: SQL/RDBMS is
not OOP.
It comes down to our different responses to that reality. Your response
is, if I may characterize it, /to cast the unknown in terms of the
known./ The goal of all ORM projects is to make tables look like
objects so they can be manipulated in known terms.
This seems to make great sense and to be wise. I used to do this myself
and thought it was a great idea. I have since found that it is
counter-productive, at least for me and the programmers I've worked
with. I have found a far more productive approach to be to /use each
tool as it works best./ With this approach I would not treat a table as
an object because a table is not an object, or a class or an interface!
I think that is where we differ.
Im not saying this is right or wrong, or that everything must be done
with an ORM layer always, but you can see where the friction gets
introduced. This is why, for example, migrations exist in Ruby on Rails.
Agreed insofar as there is much personal preference involved in these
decisions.
--
Kenneth Downs
Secure Data Software, Inc.
www.secdat.com www.andromeda-project.org
631-689-7200 Fax: 631-689-0527
cell: 631-379-0010
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