Semi-OT: Database for "average" users

[billt-lxSQFCZeNF4 at public.gmane.org]

> 
> I don't really buy the idea that a spreadsheet is functionally 
> equivalent to a simple database.  But ignoring that for the moment, 
> there's still the problem of different levels of complexity involving 
> projects that people agree *do* require a database.  Among those, 
> there's still an issue of having an expertise requirement that's not 
> proportional to the complexity of the problem.   At the moment, I can't 
> think of another class of software that I've ever used that's as 
> forbidding to beginners...not development tools, not even application 
> servers.
> 
I suggest that you give a non-administrator the job of setting up a non-trivial samba set up and see how far they get.

Or give a non-expert a highly templated MSOffice environment (ie there is a template for every document, cross templates for linked documents, etc ...) like that found in a law office and see how far they get doing any work.

The reality is that some jobs need specialized knowledge and simply because they look easy on the surface, that doesn't mean they are easy.

Consider that recombinate DNA technology looks very simple on the surface. The concepts are fairly easy to understand (DNA creates mesRNA which creates protiens via ribosomes), the methodology is also quite simple to do (basic acid base chemistry to break up and reconbine dna, a single enzymes that reproduces the resulting DNA in a medium heat environment, and a simple vector to put the DNA into a cell). But once you understand the basics of recombinate DNA technology the hard part begins (design a protien that will cure the common cold).

Databases are in much the same situation. The concepts are easy to understand (store information in rows and columns), the methodology is also fairly easy to understand (SQL92), but once you have that, the hard part (modelling the problem and defining the constraints around the problem) begins.

Remember you are not complaining about database technology, you are complaining about the levels of complexity of the project. It is for 'the complexity of the project' that database people get paid for.

Bill

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