Re: Surrogate Key vs Production Key

From: Daniel Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu>
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 19:46:06 -0700
Message-ID: <1097722052.927313@yasure>

Galen Boyer wrote:

> On 12 Oct 2004, wizofoz2k_at_yahoo.com.au wrote:
>

>>Galen Boyer <galenboyer_at_hotpop.com> wrote in message
>>
>>>Maybe someone needs to define a "natural key".  Seems to me,
>>>it is a key that some other system has already defined.
>>
>>The actual choice of a natural key can be in fact a very 
>>nasty problem.  And by no means easy.  Some times what
>>appears to be a sensible choice turns up to be a disaster
>>a few months down the line.

>
>
> This is another positive for surrogates. One can design their
> database and get their application development underway without
> knowing all the sources of data.

Most people start writing code without having signed-off specs too. That doesn't mean you'll ever find me endorsing that practice in public.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)

Received on Wed Oct 13 2004 - 21:46:06 CDT