Meaning Before Machines
Learn what a record says, what it leaves out, and what a system can safely conclude from it.
The Whole Data System in One Look
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to follow one sale from a person’s action to a stored record and then to a report. You should also be able…
4,752 words/21 min read2What a Record Really Means
This chapter teaches you to look at a record and ask the questions that a screen full of neat columns can hide. What is being claimed? What does one row…
4,681 words/20 min read3Numbers, Text, Time and Missing Values
A database cannot make a field meaningful if the application has chosen the wrong kind of value. This chapter explains the everyday decisions hidden…
4,972 words/22 min read4Measurements, Units and Uncertainty
You will turn “we measured it” into a statement that names the object, quantity, unit, method and time. You will convert units without accidentally…
6,216 words/27 min read5Identity, Keys and the Problem of Duplicates
You will distinguish a thing, its record, its display name and the identifier used to refer to it. You will choose a key by examining its scope and…
6,240 words/27 min read6From Events to State: Keeping History
You will distinguish a record of something happening from a value describing the current position. You will reconstruct a notebook stock figure without…
7,678 words/33 min read