On 19/05/13 13:02, Chris Travers wrote:
>
> I actually think that bringing some object-oriented principles into
> database design can result in some very useful things, provided that one
> remembers that applications are modelling behavior while databases are
> modelling information (and so the two behave quite differently). The OO
> principles are helpful particularly when looking at derived data.
>
INHERIT is feature that immediately gets interest from an OOP
perspective, however its usefulness, IMO, is naught. I agree that
applications model behavior (do this) but databases don't model
information, their core purpose is to store information in such a away
that the information may be modeled how you see fit, using a query
language (SQL).
Storing data to how you wish to receive it, is not realizing the true
power of a RDBMS like postgres.
The principles of OOP are to be brought into database design with risk.
INHERITS actual usefulness is merely an alternative to already accepted
relational database principles and actually goes *against* the
relational model. Postgres has alot of features. So even without the
current caveats I warn against using INHERIT when I see it mentioned.
Regards,
Julian.