Re: A good book

Chris Smith wrote:

Bob Badour <bbadour@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Dijkstra wrote a lot about the predicate calculus, about elegance etc.

I'm aware of Dijkstra's use of predicate calculus for proofs of program correctness in imperative languages. I don't fully understand it at this point, but I'm aware of it. Is there somewhere that he used predicate calculus in a way that addresses relational databases?

Of course, there's quite a large difference between Dijkstra writing about elegance and explaining how relational databases are necessary or helpful in producing elegant software. I'm afraid that, in my case, you can't take that connection as given. I'm trying to see that viewpoint; really, I am. But I've read quite a bit of Dijkstra's work, and ESPECIALLY a good bit from the period in which he adopted his quest for improved heuristics and research methods; and I fail to see the relationship at all. He simply was not talking about why everyone should use some different tool.

Are you suggesting that predicate calculus is just some different tool?
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