Re: standard and easy way to do schema design

>> Nowadays when I go for interviews, many interviewers hope that I can produce a schema in just 2, 3 minutes... <<

Grab a felt-tip pen and paper napkin -- the drawing tool and surface is important. Draw a box for every physical object they name anywhere on the page. Draw other boxes or shapes for any kind of relationship and connect them to the members of the first set of meaningless blobs, while bullshitting with a lot of techno-babble.

"Here is a table for the automobiles, one for squids, and -- of course -- one for Britney Spears since she will be very important in the <insert name here> industry next week. If she marries a squid, we will have a marriage relationship table here, yadda, yadda, yadda..."

Now, spill water on the napkin or put it in your pocket.

I just re-read this before posting. I was trying to be humorous but it really reads like "stand up tragedy" because I have been called in to shops where they "Code first, design later" just like we did decades ago and with the same crappy systems as a result.

The research into legal problems and industry standards for a new system can weeks or months even in an established system. Thank Google we can do it 1000 times faster today! Received on Wed Aug 15 2007 - 21:33:50 CEST