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In a LinkedIn exchange I argued that an optimal generality-to-simplicity ratio (ability to represent a maximal range of reality with minimal complexity) and a 1:1 correspondence between informal business modeling constructs and formal logical database constructs are beneficial. And I claimed that insofar as data models that are formally defined are concerned, the relational model scores best on both.

One of the responses I got was

GE: Though I might come up with slightly different lists, in general, I agree with your expression of criteria for selecting a primary key and of generality and simplicity, but disagree with your conclusion that "RM scores better than any other modeling scheme."

Let me take his points one by one.

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Note: I usually receive notifications of comments to my posts, which I then publish if they are not spam. Today, however, I noticed a whole bunch of old comments that were waiting for moderation, some of 2013, of which I was not notified. I have just published them and replied. Apologies to the commenters.

1. Quote of the Week

Schemaless describes the storage engine, not the data. Data has schema. No Data is ever Schemaless. Schemaless DBs merely describe a feature of themselves, not the data they store. Namely that they don't store and enforce this schema in addition to the data.
One advantage of this Is that you can change the schema "easily" - helps with up time. Now if you don't evolve the old data with each schema change you can end up with multiple schemas stored in your backend and no way of knowing which data is of which schema without some form of analysis of the data. Show me the Front end that can deal with evolving schemas without knowing about them ;) Point being Schema's always there wether any tier deals with it explicitly or not. Something has to manage it. --LinkedIn.com

2. To Laugh or Cry?

Big data means the reign of the relational database is over

3. Online

What is the best way to explain Normalization 1NF,2NF and 3NF

4. And now for something completely different

Samsung’s entire leadership team is paid less than individual executives at Google, Apple

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Note: This is a 11/06/17 revision. Thanks to Erwin Smout for his review of a draft and suggesting improvements.

The claims that (1) the relational data model (RDM) is old and, by implication, obsolete -- the industry has purportedly "progressed" -- and (2) promoting it as a superior alternative to NoSQL, Hadoop and other "modern" data management technologies is "religious" in character are routine. They have popped again in a LinkedIn exchange and I responded as I usually do, by asking why is the promotion of a scientific approach deemed religious, while pushing ad-hoc alternatives is not?

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1. My presentation at SQLSaturday:

The Last NULL in the Coffin: A Relational 2VL Solution to Missing Data
March 15, 2014 11:15am
Microsoft Technology Center, 1065 La Avenida, Building One, Mountain View, CA, 94043

2. Descriptions of all available courses are now posted on the SEMINARS page. Contact me if you are interested in public or private sessions, with possible customization for particular needs.

3. Quote of the Week

1: - a picture is only one representation of a data model: What is the adequate data structure to store a data model: Picture, Text (UML), formal (Gellish), Database) - is there an API to access, create and manipulate data models - do you handle hundreds of types (Entity, Relationship, Attribute): - do you handle one conceptual data model and derived consistent (external) submodels - document : which meta-attributes must be maintained to describe the elements of the data model. How to create different views of the data model (Pictures with different views, detailed printed documents)
2: - How to check the data model with instance data and queries based on the requirements.
3. - Use the ER-Model for Instance data (instead of the relational model) and thereby avoid the impedance mismatch:
4: A query language to access instance data which is based on the Entity-Relationship-Model and NOT on the relational model" --LinkedIn.com

Ugh!

4. To Laugh or Cry?

mysql - additional information on normalization 

5. Online

Do you use Composite Primary Keys to design a good, solid data model?

6. Elsewhere

http://image-store.slidesharecdn.com/a606a81e-9bd4-11e3-8016-22000a9aa8cc-large.png

The database field.

7. And now for something completely different

Zombie Studies Gain Ground on College Campuses