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> there's no fundamental difference between database tables and flat files But "flat" essentially means "one table that doesn't reference (and isn't referenced
by hunter2_ 4y ago
> there's no fundamental difference between database tables and flat files
But "flat" essentially means "one table that doesn't reference (and isn't referenced by) other tables in a reliable way." It's a way of saying 2 dimensions (flat) versus 3+ dimensions (relational). The moment you start having multiple plain text files where columns act as primary and foreign keys, the system is no longer flat, despite using plain text files.
It seems to me that TFA and most comments here are really just talking about using a DBMS vs using plain text files, not using flat vs using relations.