Nullology – Empty Sets in Database Theory and Practice by C.J. Date

Nullology – Empty Sets in Database Theory and Practice by C.J. Date

Summary: that’s one of these love-hate relationsips :)

Whether you love it or hate it depends heavily on:

– whether you are concious enough to follow the material (don’t watch it at night while preparing for sleep – definitelly not a good idea)
– whether you are able to admit that SQL queries won’t give a definite answer for all the questions
– whether you are interested in the theory behind the SQL
– whether you like to force your brain to do some real work

For me, there were few surprises in the video. Especially when topics related to empty set were discussed. I mean, it’s coverage in SQL, or better said – the lack of it.

In case you are autodidact in the field of SQL, this video will for sure open your eyes. But it will not teach you the SQL, it will show you what SQL is, comparing to relational theory.

And now, for something completelly different, my perfect quotes from the video are:

“And I can think about practical examples where that could be usefull too. They’re little bit complicated so I won’t try to talk through them now and I leave it as an excersice to you.”

and second one

“Please, remember TABLE_DEE and TABLE_DUM!”

Just get it, if you want to know the limits of SQL, simply get it.

Product page:

O’Reilly (video): Nullology – Empty Sets in Database Theory and Practice