RE: SQL vs. traditional I/O?

> From: Joel Cochran
> 
> I think we need to revisit the way we design programs,
> if nothing else it would prove an interesting excercise.

Joel, this is a brilliant observation.  I hope that by starting with
some basic facts instead of guesswork and hype (I think I'm going to
change the icon for the site to the international NO symbol over a cloud
of smoke <grin>), that we might begin to see some new paradigms in our
programming techniques.

I'm going to really enjoy laying out the requirements for a standard
pricing algorithm and see what we can come up with.  When you include
discount codes based on item classes and customer classes (with
soft-selected hierarchies), layer in discounts based on aggregate
volume, and then include special discounts based on date ranges and the
like, it gets very interesting.  I know how I'd do it traditionally, but
is there another way to think of the problem?

I'm hoping that the site eventually leads us to THOSE kinds of insights.

Joe