Prescriptive design rules

#1

This is a post from comp.databases.mysql:

<<let's say I want to ask a survey question, with checkboxes:

What animals do you like?
[] giraffe
[] elephant
[] donkey
....

I'd possibly create a single column named "like" and store each
response as a comma delimited string:
giraffe,donkey
elephant,donkey
etc

But further, let's say I have a question with checkboxes and also
radio buttons:

Please select which animals you own, and tell us how much you like
each:

[] cat () low () medium () high
[] dog () low () medium () high
[] rat () low () medium () high
....

What's the best table design to store that? E.g., I could have a
column named "own" and another column named "rate". Or I could have a
column named "cat" which might contain:
yes,low

and another column named "dog" which might contain:
no

and another column named "rat" which might contain:
yes,high

etc. But neither of those seems quite right to me.

I'm obviously thinking of using one flat table for the whole survey,
is that a very wrong thing to do? I'm assuming that using a flat table
will naturally make it easier to export in spreadsheet format. I'm
also not concerned about the memory usage of a flat file.>>

If you could provide 10 prescriptive design rules to a front-end developer,
what would they be? Or just 5?

Evan

#2

"Evan Keel" <evankeel (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote

Quote:

This is a post from comp.databases.mysql:

let's say I want to ask a survey question, with checkboxes:

What animals do you like?
[] giraffe
[] elephant
[] donkey
...

I'd possibly create a single column named "like" and store each
response as a comma delimited string:
giraffe,donkey
elephant,donkey
etc

But further, let's say I have a question with checkboxes and also
radio buttons:

Please select which animals you own, and tell us how much you like
each:

[] cat () low () medium () high
[] dog () low () medium () high
[] rat () low () medium () high
...

What's the best table design to store that? E.g., I could have a
column named "own" and another column named "rate". Or I could have a
column named "cat" which might contain:
yes,low

and another column named "dog" which might contain:
no

and another column named "rat" which might contain:
yes,high

etc. But neither of those seems quite right to me.

I'm obviously thinking of using one flat table for the whole survey,
is that a very wrong thing to do? I'm assuming that using a flat table
will naturally make it easier to export in spreadsheet format. I'm
also not concerned about the memory usage of a flat file.

If you could provide 10 prescriptive design rules to a front-end
developer,
what would they be? Or just 5?

Evan

Wrong group, sorry.

Evan

#3

Evan Keel wrote:

Quote:

This is a post from comp.databases.mysql:

let's say I want to ask a survey question, with checkboxes:

What animals do you like?
[] giraffe
[] elephant
[] donkey
...

I'd possibly create a single column named "like" and store each
response as a comma delimited string:
giraffe,donkey
elephant,donkey
etc

But further, let's say I have a question with checkboxes and also
radio buttons:

Please select which animals you own, and tell us how much you like
each:

[] cat () low () medium () high
[] dog () low () medium () high
[] rat () low () medium () high
...

What's the best table design to store that? E.g., I could have a
column named "own" and another column named "rate". Or I could have a
column named "cat" which might contain:
yes,low

and another column named "dog" which might contain:
no

and another column named "rat" which might contain:
yes,high

etc. But neither of those seems quite right to me.

I'm obviously thinking of using one flat table for the whole survey,
is that a very wrong thing to do? I'm assuming that using a flat table
will naturally make it easier to export in spreadsheet format. I'm
also not concerned about the memory usage of a flat file.

If you could provide 10 prescriptive design rules to a front-end developer,
what would they be? Or just 5?

1. Learn the fundamentals
2. See 1
3. See 1
4. See 1
5. See 1

#4

"Bob Badour" <bbadour (AT) pei (DOT) sympatico.ca> wrote

Quote:

Evan Keel wrote:

This is a post from comp.databases.mysql:

let's say I want to ask a survey question, with checkboxes:

What animals do you like?
[] giraffe
[] elephant
[] donkey
...

I'd possibly create a single column named "like" and store each
response as a comma delimited string:
giraffe,donkey
elephant,donkey
etc

But further, let's say I have a question with checkboxes and also
radio buttons:

Please select which animals you own, and tell us how much you like
each:

[] cat () low () medium () high
[] dog () low () medium () high
[] rat () low () medium () high
...

What's the best table design to store that? E.g., I could have a
column named "own" and another column named "rate". Or I could have a
column named "cat" which might contain:
yes,low

and another column named "dog" which might contain:
no

and another column named "rat" which might contain:
yes,high

etc. But neither of those seems quite right to me.

I'm obviously thinking of using one flat table for the whole survey,
is that a very wrong thing to do? I'm assuming that using a flat table
will naturally make it easier to export in spreadsheet format. I'm
also not concerned about the memory usage of a flat file.

If you could provide 10 prescriptive design rules to a front-end
developer,
what would they be? Or just 5?

1. Learn the fundamentals
2. See 1
3. See 1
4. See 1
5. See 1

What are the fundamentals? Can you list 5 basic rules of thumb? Heuristics?

Evan

#5

Evan Keel wrote:

Quote:

"Bob Badour" <bbadour (AT) pei (DOT) sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:46d6129b$0$4056$9a566e8b (AT) news (DOT) aliant.net...

Evan Keel wrote:

This is a post from comp.databases.mysql:

let's say I want to ask a survey question, with checkboxes:

What animals do you like?
[] giraffe
[] elephant
[] donkey
...

I'd possibly create a single column named "like" and store each
response as a comma delimited string:
giraffe,donkey
elephant,donkey
etc

But further, let's say I have a question with checkboxes and also
radio buttons:

Please select which animals you own, and tell us how much you like
each:

[] cat () low () medium () high
[] dog () low () medium () high
[] rat () low () medium () high
...

What's the best table design to store that? E.g., I could have a
column named "own" and another column named "rate". Or I could have a
column named "cat" which might contain:
yes,low

and another column named "dog" which might contain:
no

and another column named "rat" which might contain:
yes,high

etc. But neither of those seems quite right to me.

I'm obviously thinking of using one flat table for the whole survey,
is that a very wrong thing to do? I'm assuming that using a flat table
will naturally make it easier to export in spreadsheet format. I'm
also not concerned about the memory usage of a flat file.

If you could provide 10 prescriptive design rules to a front-end

developer,

what would they be? Or just 5?

1. Learn the fundamentals
2. See 1
3. See 1
4. See 1
5. See 1

What are the fundamentals? Can you list 5 basic rules of thumb? Heuristics?

The fundamentals are the basic principles. They are neither rules of
thumb nor heuristics.

What are the rules of thumb of addition?

#6

On Aug 29, 7:54 pm, paul c <toledobythe... (AT) oohay (DOT) ac> wrote:

Quote:

Bob Badour wrote:

What are the rules of thumb of addition?

surely you mean rules of fingers!

It depends. People use base ten, so they need all their
fingers, including the thumbs, to do addition. However
computers internally use only the binary language
of ones and zeroes, and so can get by with just thumbs.

Also, teenagers and their texting these days! Email
is for old people they say.

Marshall

PS. And don't forget the binary language of moisture vaporators.

#7

"paul c" <toledobythesea (AT) oohay (DOT) ac> wrote

Quote:

Bob Badour wrote:
Evan Keel wrote:
...

1. Learn the fundamentals
2. See 1
3. See 1
4. See 1
5. See 1

What are the fundamentals? Can you list 5 basic rules of thumb?
Heuristics?

The fundamentals are the basic principles. They are neither rules of
thumb nor heuristics.

What are the rules of thumb of addition?

shurely you mean rules of fingers!

That's only if you are adding digitally!

#8

On Aug 30, 5:28 am, "David Cressey" <cresse... (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote:

Quote:

"paul c" <toledobythe... (AT) oohay (DOT) ac> wrote in message

news:AjqBi.106792$rX4.38768 (AT) pd7urf2no (DOT) ..

Bob Badour wrote:
Evan Keel wrote:
...

1. Learn the fundamentals
2. See 1
3. See 1
4. See 1
5. See 1

What are the fundamentals? Can you list 5 basic rules of thumb?
Heuristics?

The fundamentals are the basic principles. They are neither rules of
thumb nor heuristics.

What are the rules of thumb of addition?

shurely you mean rules of fingers!

That's only if you are adding digitally!

I would still require 3 thumbs

#9

"Evan Keel" <evankeel (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote

Quote:

This is a post from comp.databases.mysql:

let's say I want to ask a survey question, with checkboxes:

What animals do you like?
[] giraffe
[] elephant
[] donkey
...

I'd possibly create a single column named "like" and store each
response as a comma delimited string:
giraffe,donkey
elephant,donkey
etc

But further, let's say I have a question with checkboxes and also
radio buttons:

Please select which animals you own, and tell us how much you like
each:

[] cat () low () medium () high
[] dog () low () medium () high
[] rat () low () medium () high
...

What's the best table design to store that? E.g., I could have a
column named "own" and another column named "rate". Or I could have a
column named "cat" which might contain:
yes,low

and another column named "dog" which might contain:
no

and another column named "rat" which might contain:
yes,high

etc. But neither of those seems quite right to me.

I'm obviously thinking of using one flat table for the whole survey,
is that a very wrong thing to do? I'm assuming that using a flat table
will naturally make it easier to export in spreadsheet format. I'm
also not concerned about the memory usage of a flat file.

If you could provide 10 prescriptive design rules to a front-end
developer,
what would they be? Or just 5?

Evan

You guys are so smug and clever. I was looking for real examples: When

nulls are ok. When 2 tables have the same key.

#10

Evan Keel wrote:

Quote:

"Evan Keel" <evankeel (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote in message
news:EbnBi.1216$3Y1.852 (AT) newssvr17 (DOT) news.prodigy.net...

This is a post from comp.databases.mysql:

let's say I want to ask a survey question, with checkboxes:

What animals do you like?
[] giraffe
[] elephant
[] donkey
...

I'd possibly create a single column named "like" and store each
response as a comma delimited string:
giraffe,donkey
elephant,donkey
etc

But further, let's say I have a question with checkboxes and also
radio buttons:

Please select which animals you own, and tell us how much you like
each:

[] cat () low () medium () high
[] dog () low () medium () high
[] rat () low () medium () high
...

What's the best table design to store that? E.g., I could have a
column named "own" and another column named "rate". Or I could have a
column named "cat" which might contain:
yes,low

and another column named "dog" which might contain:
no

and another column named "rat" which might contain:
yes,high

etc. But neither of those seems quite right to me.

I'm obviously thinking of using one flat table for the whole survey,
is that a very wrong thing to do? I'm assuming that using a flat table
will naturally make it easier to export in spreadsheet format. I'm
also not concerned about the memory usage of a flat file.

If you could provide 10 prescriptive design rules to a front-end

developer,

what would they be? Or just 5?

Evan

You guys are so smug and clever. I was looking for real examples: When
nulls are ok. When 2 tables have the same key.

Never. And when they do.