Re: FN-FORUM: [OT] flippancy - What's the best development platform for creating Web 2.0 business applications?

date posted 22nd November 2007 09:17

On 22 Nov 2007 09:57:01 -0000, Adam Reynolds wrote
> First of all some databases did not up, until recently, support
> auto-increment. This as much as anything shows it was a feature of a
> DB and not a general premise of database design.

I agree. But the concept of using a "dumb" key instead of a natural key is
as old as relational database theory itself. Remember, once selected as a
key field a field cannot be updated. I'd suggest that you would wish to
update most of the fields in your description of a Customer (say) and so
a "dumb" key is the sensible approach to take, and probably is with most
entity tables. Assocative tables are different of course.

> I think people may be getting a bit excited over this. :)

Not too excited. Healthy debate is always the best way to learn. As long as
we remember to attack the arguement and not the person, we'll still be able
to go to the pub as mates afterwards :-)

--
Gary Short
http://www.garyshort.org