[Data-modeling] Denormalised data

[Tom Morris]

On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 1:10 PM, Scott Meyer <sm at metaweb.com> wrote:
> Philip Kendall wrote:
>> Both /cvg/computer_videogame and /cvg/game_version deliberately contain
>> developer, publisher and release date fields.
>>
...
>> Any views?
>
> Yeah, fix the data model.
>
> This need for documentation, convention, gardening bots to enforce
> convention, etc., is exactly why denormalization (duplication of data)
> is a problem.  The problem for application developers is "How do I
> ask about all versions of a game?"

Hear, hear!  This is true not only for denormalizations, but also for
doing the same thing differently across different types/subtypes like
Building->Address vs co-typing with Location.

The "let a thousand flowers bloom" approach is great for getting
schemas roughed out or allowing data to be entered, but it's a
nightmare for anyone trying to make actual use of the data.

Tom