Re: Precision of data types and functions

[Ron Johnson <ron(dot)l(dot)johnson(at)cox(dot)net>]

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Brandon Aiken wrote:
> To be fair, that's the fault of the previous designer, not MySQL.
> You don't blame Stanley when your contractor uses 2" plain nails
> when he needed 3" galvanized.  The tool isn't to blame just
> because someone used it incorrectly.

Shows that you've been afflicted with the MySQL "app developer must
do everything" disease.

Just as a PK should not let you insert a duplicate record, a
NUMERIC(12,2) should not let you insert a too-big number.

Tool analogy: Pneumatic nailer says "maximum nail length 3 inches",
but it *lets* you install *4* inch nails.  So, you do what you can,
it mis-fires and you nail your hand to the deck.  Who's fault is it?
 Theirs, for making it easy to install 4 inch nails, or yours for
doing it?

That's where the analogy breaks down.  DBMSs have *always* returned
errors when the app tries to do something beyond the range of the
DB's parameters.

- --
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA  USA

Is "common sense" really valid?
For example, it is "common sense" to white-power racists that
whites are superior to blacks, and that those with brown skins
are mud people.
However, that "common sense" is obviously wrong.
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