ORDBMS and Reusable Design: Why PostgreSQL on Your (Next) Project

One of the classic songs during the British invasion of America through music is "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" by the Herman's Hermits. The main character of the song is a man named Henry about to marry a widower who married seven times before. All the groom she married were named Henry. Probably the lady in the song found some particular trait(s) found in every Henry she met.

I hope you'd allow my fancy for the moment and share the perspective when we take the case of Object-oriented Programming (OOP) and Object Relational Database Management Systems (ORDBMS), given that, like Henry the Eighth in relation to his bride's previous husbands, they have the same first name. Would it be possible that design and/or code reuse, one of the great tenets of Object-oriented programming be applicable to Object relational database systems? Am I dragging your leg? Read on and find out.

What You Should Learn About Database Systems

If IT meant Information Technology, then arguably and syntactically having relevant information is first and more important than the technology that delivers it. Information may be stored in a text file, a word processor document, a spreadsheet, a presentation, or an XML file, but for easier, faster and reliable search and retrieval, the database management system rules.

Unfortunately, I have observed that most books available in local stores in my so-called third world country tragically lack the fundamentals that should be learned to maximize the beneficial use of database management systems or (DBMS). Worse, many are tied to proprietary systems like Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server, which are usually tied to particular (and usually expensive) platforms (i.e. Windows or Solaris only), will almost cost you your soul to put into hands on practiality, and worst, subject to whimsical changes and features that the vendor may deem important to differentiate their product from the rest; resulting to obsolete skills for outdated systems.

Michael Jordan didn't become the greatest basketball player by just going straight for the hoop and shoot the second he has the ball on hand. By the same principle, what should you learn about database systems?