Hooray for Data Structures… Where Are They?
The Key-Value Pair is my favorite programming tool. Most SQL type databases lack this feature in it simplest form. Some would argue, “Well that’s because databases don’t need dah-blah-dee-blah-blah…” Well, if they don’t need it I don’t need to write this post. :p
How many times have you found yourself asking “Why isn’t there at least simple array support!?” When you don’t want the overhead of creating a table, or a temporary table, simple data structures really do come in handy (hint, hint, nudge, nudge to all the companies producing database software with stored routine support).
I’m not one to let an apparent lack of functionality ruin my day. Instead, I add it. I had a great computer science professor who said “You don’t need pointers to create a linked list.” Then he proved it. You can create, pretty much, any abstract data structure with …
[Read more]