Re: Seems to be impossible to set a NULL search_path

On 2022-07-06 20:47:19 -0700, Bryn Llewellyn wrote:
> But never mind. If you'd like a diverting read on this topic, go here:
>
> https://blogs.oracle.com/sql/post/a-collection-of-plsql-essays
>
> look for this, and download the PDF:
>
> «
> Names vs identifiers
>
> Databases are full of things: tables, sequences, columns, views, PL/SQL units,
> what have you. Things have names and are manipulated by mentioning the names.
> The programming languages SQL and PL/SQL use identifiers, not names.
[...]

If there's one thing I've learned in 39 years of programming it's that
technical terms rarely have a fixed, universally accepted meaning.
There's a reason standards include a "terms and definition" section
which often define seemingly trivial terms like "byte" and why project
management coaches often stress the importance of a glossary in the
documentation.

So I think how a single Oracle employee uses those terms has little
bearing on the PostgreSQL documentation (I haven't read it yet - maybe I
agree with him, but I'm also only a single PostgreSQL user). If you want
to argue that the usage is wrong you would have to point at something
within the PostgreSQL documentation (ideally an entry in the glossary)
or some really wide-spread convention and the absence of a local
definition.

> Questions show many programmers are confused about the difference.

Which might be a hint that no wide-spread convention on how to use those
terms exists.

hp

--
_ | Peter J. Holzer | Story must make more sense than reality.
|_|_) | |
| | | hjp(at)hjp(dot)at | -- Charles Stross, "Creative writing
__/ | http://www.hjp.at/ | challenge!"