It's often a good idea to put as much logic as possible in the database layer – if you don't, you have to transmit more information across processes and machines, and moving information is slow, can be unreliable and is time-consuming to program.
Unfortunately, once you have a database structure, it can be difficult to update it. I posted a while ago about how a test driven development approach could be used to give you more confidence that any changes you make would work and not break something you have already done.
I noticed today that Addison-Wesley have published a new book on the subject of refactoring databases by Scott Ambler and Pramodkumar Sadalage.
I've ordered my copy of the book, and there is a website at databaserefactoring.com that introduces the refactorings. I'll post a review when it's arrived and I've had a chance to read it.
1 comment:
Yes, this is definitely a refreshing book. I've seen too many project teams who have been advanced in their use of 'web' technologies and middle tier frameworks but were back in the 1970's with their database thinking! This book is useful because it isn't just the individual refactorings which help people to make incremental improvements, it's the learning they make over the way which helps them to (hopefully) design better database solutions on their next project. http://refactoringdatabases.com has more info.
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