1NF vs Seth

> >The first rule of normalization is to get rid of repeating groups (e.g. > >arrays). This is the basic requirement to get to 1NF. score two > > Would you please explain why you think an array of numbers is any more a > repeating group than a text string? > > Perhaps the real answer is that I'm not a theorist or a vendor, interested > in either defending my academic standing or in showing how the "extended" > but useful features of competing products violate the Twelve Commandments. > I've learned that, in production settings, one often has to violate > normalization for performance or based on application logic. (As a three pointer! > systems analyst, I try to sell management on the idea that first one looks > at business requirements, then at software that will answer the > requirements, and then at hardware.) motherhood/apple pie kind of stuff. > If an array datatype fits easily > into data management requirements, who cares if there's a debate going on > whether it constitutes a repeating group and/or violates 1NF? other three pointer. 1NF - Seth 2 6 Which is to say, that while normalization is a good thing - at times there are costs associated with it. I have frequently had to throw out the theoretical rules to deal with reality in a data processing world. After all the true measure of my code is throughput, not elegance. (score -2 for that - maintenance is easier on elegant code). And there are definite times when joining 4 tables - because you don't dare repeat yourself in one of them - when your 10ms query turns into a 1 sec query. There are costs associated with elegance (talk to the programmers of the first MacIntosh OS). Everything in moderation - including the last thing. j. _____________________________________________________________________________ Jack Parker - Contractor | Hewlett Packard, BSMC Boise, Idaho, USA| I've forgotten more than jparker@hpbs2561.boi.hp.com | I ever knew (208) 323-5388 (W) (208) 384-1623 (H) | _____________________________________________________________________________