Re:SQL is 43 years old – Here’s why we still use it today
by vog on Tuesday May 02, 2017 @08:28AM
(#14245781)
Note that "tables" in this statement had a different meaning than today. That one wasn't about relational databases, it was about tables as in-memory data structures.
In today's words, "flowcharts" means "code" and "tables" means "data structures".
I don't care if it is:
- tables in a relational database
- nested structs (records) and lists
- nested dictionaries (hash tables) and lists
- JSON
- XML
- ... whatever
What I do care is that I can see the data structures, and not just the code. Static typing often gets that job done fairly well. If you don't use that, please use at least type annotations. This is the most important part of your documetation, and the compiler ensures it remains correct over time. Most of the time, this (+ the function name) is the only documentation I really need.
In today's words, "flowcharts" means "code" and "tables" means "data structures".
I don't care if it is:
- tables in a relational database
- nested structs (records) and lists
- nested dictionaries (hash tables) and lists
- JSON
- XML
- ... whatever
What I do care is that I can see the data structures, and not just the code. Static typing often gets that job done fairly well. If you don't use that, please use at least type annotations. This is the most important part of your documetation, and the compiler ensures it remains correct over time. Most of the time, this (+ the function name) is the only documentation I really need.