Re: Development Trends in Web and Oracle

Hexathioorthooxalate apparently said,on my timestamp of 13/03/2005 1:08 AM:

> Overhead of 36*2+1 longer ... Huh?? This calculation doesn't hold water. I
> elaborate.

It is an exageration. To illustrate the ridiculousness of using XML in a database.

> But in terms of your overhead calculation for "process"ing (your word) the
> information, it also just is not right. To process a "byte", prior to the
> DMBS persisting the information,

You see, this is where your whole argument falls down. If ALL you want to do with data is "persist" it, then WTF are you doing using a database in the first place? Store it in a file and be done with it.

If all you see in a database is "persistence", then you missed 35 years of IT evolution and the fundamental reason for storing data in databases instead of flat files. And I don't have the time to explain to you those years: try reading some classic IT texts, instead of all that modern crap.

> With XML data stored in the database, the information being inserted can be
> checked for bounds, its content etc significantly more comprehensively than
> using the traditional relational approach (eg. XML schema on an XMLTYPE
> table column).

Prove it. Don't just state it.

 > Arguably this is more efficient. ***This has overhead too.***

And a lot of overhead. And it is arbitrary. And it is subject to multiple interpretations. And makes no sense whatsoever to retrieve the data in a consistent, reliable and usable fashion, which is the fundamental reason to use a db instead of a flat file in the first place. In sum: it adds NOTHING to the process, except overhead. We've got enough of that, thanks.

> of information. Given the data verbosity is clearly only part of the story,
> dismissing the storage of XML in a database on this basis is I believe a
> very week argument.

Metadata verbosity IS the fundamental reason! Why the heck do I need the metadata REPEATED for every instance of the data? What possible purpose could that serve?

>
> So I ask again, what is the real reason for not storing XML in a database
> then?

Because relational does it much more efficiently and is a reliable way of RETRIEVING the data back in many forms.

-- 
Cheers
Nuno Souto
in sunny Sydney, Australia
wizofoz2k_at_yahoo.com.au.nospam