3 ms·

Design Your Own Database (2004) [pdf]

59 points by websec 11y ago

collyw 11y ago
Well said about planning with a pen and paper.
douche 11y ago
Going up a couple levels to here: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~bknauff/dwebd/index.html http://www.dartmouth.edu/~bknauff/dwebd/index.html is kind of an interesting snapshop of where the world was a decade ago. Dartmouth is a weird place, though. Until quite recently, people didn't really text or use cellphones on campus, instead relying on an incredibly ugly email client that ran on a custom protocol called BlitzMail[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlitzMail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlitzMail
polsoul1 11y ago
Does anyone still do this(database design)? (sarcasm here with a bad taste ebcause I might be wrong in my belief ... and I want to be right that the articla info is used by everyone(or at least the majority) in the software development filed but have my doubts ... way too many doubts). With all the paradigms - agile and etc. , gazilion of frameworks in all the different languages, the complete avoidance of database lock-in, the lack of database architect roles on job boards(I see only dba and database developer roles). One might say that database developers are responsible for this but most of the time I see that it's actually the java/php and other fourth generation language devs that are the sole db developers in the company. In the end they are the ones who make the mess in the database over the years ... and at this point in time there is no practical way back. It's so depressing ...
- huherto 11y ago
  :) We do have a lot of new cool database technologies. They may be the right choice in some specific domains. I still think RDBMs are the best generic choice. And good RDBMs design skills a core developer competence.
  - collyw 11y ago
    Having done it for a while now I always think that database design is simple. Yet looking at he work of others, many people get it really badly wrong.
- chris_wot 11y ago
  A number of places use Kimball's methodology to design their databases around fact and dimension tables. In those cases, you throw out the rules of normalization.
- x0ry 11y ago
  "Best practice" is losing to "I needed it yesterday." Technical architects need to get better at not buckling to business pressures and business folks need to read this document or stop trying to influence/dictate technical decisions. IMO Developers and business users alike are chasing the perception of success rather than constant critique/improvement which is why so much of this stuff is hiding behind the scenes.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

59 points by websec 11y ago

Well said about planning with a pen and paper.

Going up a couple levels to here: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~bknauff/dwebd/index.html http://www.dartmouth.edu/~bknauff/dwebd/index.html is kind of an interesting snapshop of where the world was a decade ago. Dartmouth is a weird place, though. Until quite recently, people didn't really text or use cellphones on campus, instead relying on an incredibly ugly email client that ran on a custom protocol called BlitzMail[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlitzMail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlitzMail

polsoul1 11y ago

Does anyone still do this(database design)? (sarcasm here with a bad taste ebcause I might be wrong in my belief ... and I want to be right that the articla info is used by everyone(or at least the majority) in the software development filed but have my doubts ... way too many doubts). With all the paradigms - agile and etc. , gazilion of frameworks in all the different languages, the complete avoidance of database lock-in, the lack of database architect roles on job boards(I see only dba and database developer roles). One might say that database developers are responsible for this but most of the time I see that it's actually the java/php and other fourth generation language devs that are the sole db developers in the company. In the end they are the ones who make the mess in the database over the years ... and at this point in time there is no practical way back. It's so depressing ...

huherto 11y ago
:) We do have a lot of new cool database technologies. They may be the right choice in some specific domains. I still think RDBMs are the best generic choice. And good RDBMs design skills a core developer competence.
- collyw 11y ago
  Having done it for a while now I always think that database design is simple. Yet looking at he work of others, many people get it really badly wrong.
chris_wot 11y ago
A number of places use Kimball's methodology to design their databases around fact and dimension tables. In those cases, you throw out the rules of normalization.
x0ry 11y ago
"Best practice" is losing to "I needed it yesterday." Technical architects need to get better at not buckling to business pressures and business folks need to read this document or stop trying to influence/dictate technical decisions. IMO Developers and business users alike are chasing the perception of success rather than constant critique/improvement which is why so much of this stuff is hiding behind the scenes.

deleted 11y ago

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