SQLwaterheadretard3 (Was: Is it just me, or is Sqlite3 goofy?)

[Steve Holden]

mensanator at aol.com wrote:
> Bruno Desthuilliers wrote:
> 
>>mensanator at aol.com wrote:
>>
>>>Probably just me. I've only been using Access and SQL Server
>>>for 12 years, so I'm sure my opinions don't count for anything.
>>>
>>
>>SQLite never pretended to be a full-blown RDBMS - just a lightweight
>>simple embedded database as SQL-compliant as possible.
> 
> 
> Ah, *you* haven't read the documentation either!
> 
> "as SQL-compliant as possible"?
> 
> ROTFLMAO!
> 
>>From SQLite Homepage
>   documentation
>     Available Documentation
>       Distinctive Features
> 
> <quote *emphasis added*>
> This page highlights some of the characteristics of SQLite
> that are unusual and which make SQLite different from many
> other SQL database engines.
> 
> Manifest typing
> 
> Most SQL database engines use static typing. A datatype is
> associated with each column in a table and only values of
> that particular datatype are allowed to be stored in that
> column. SQLite relaxes this restriction by using manifest
> typing.
> 
> In manifest typing, the datatype is a property of the
> value itself, not of the column in which the value is
> stored. SQLite thus allows the user to store any value
> of any datatype into any column regardless of the declared
> type of that column. (There are some exceptions to this
> rule: An INTEGER PRIMARY KEY column may only store
> integers. And SQLite attempts to coerce values into the
> declared datatype of the column when it can.)
> 
> ***********************************************************
> * The SQL language specification calls for static typing. *
> ***********************************************************
> 
> So some people feel that the use of manifest typing is a
> bug in SQLite. But the authors of SQLite feel very
> strongly that this is a feature.
> 
> **********************************************************
> * The authors argue that static typing is a bug in the   *
> * SQL specification that SQLite has fixed in a backwards *
> * compatible way.                                        *
> **********************************************************
> </quote>
> 
> "Fixed"? Up until now, I didn't think it was possible for
> crackpot theories to be implemented in computer science.
> This is absolutely the craziest thing I've ever heard.
> 
> Manifest typing doesn't work *in theory*!! Sure, through
> diligent data integrity management it can be made to work
> in practice. But when that's applied, guess what? All your
> fields end up having the same data type anyway. Duh.
> 
> And Python's inclusion of this into the standard library
> is like the AMA endorsing homeopathy. It should have
> been pointed out in the Python Manuals that SQLite3 is
> 
> ----> NOT <----
> 
> SQL-compliant, never will be, and true SQL-compliant code
> 
> ----> CANNOT <----
> 
> be made to work in this environment. So much for
> "If switching to a larger database such as PostgreSQL or Oracle
> is later necessary, the switch should be relatively easy."
> 
Sorry. I have written code that started out on SQLite and migrated it to 
other databases. Sure, your milage may vary. But the wailing and 
gnashing of teeth is complete unnecessary.

> That does not, of course, mean I don't have a use for a light,
> simple database that's part of the standard library. But I could
> have saved myself a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth if I
> hadn't been lied to by the Python documentation that, like you,
> has the mistaken belief that SQLite3 is SQL-compliant.
> 
> Fixing the documentation is now becoming an enormous task.
> 
> What are the chances that anything I send in as a bug report
> will simply be ignored? Kind of like the Emporer's New Clothes, eh?
> It would be an admission of ignorance and stupidity on the part
> of the Python Development Team, wouldn't it?
> 
No, when they need ignorance and stupidity they normally look to the 
user base ;-)

I'm sure your doc patch will receive the same courteous consideration 
that my early suggestions for amendment did, and your name will join 
mine in the list of contributors.

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden       +44 150 684 7255  +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC/Ltd          http://www.holdenweb.com
Skype: holdenweb       http://holdenweb.blogspot.com
Recent Ramblings     http://del.icio.us/steve.holden