Switched Keys

<posted on it-toolbox.com>

One of the problems I anticipated when going back to school was the need to remember lists and definitions. That's not something that I am good at. I can learn a computer language painlessly, but have difficulty remembering names of new people I meet. I can trace the logic in a complex computer program or system, and track down errors in it, but I don't know if I can adequately define what a computer program is, or what a system is. Can you?

And then there's the problem of trying to list things like the eight phases of systems development. To me it's like listing the names of Snow White's dwarfs. I would rather get to know each one intimately, and then be able to list them.

Education is an imperfect science, or at least, being able to validate a person's learning can be a challenge. Using definitions is an easy way to do that, at least at the elementary stages. In many fields, there may be different meanings for the same word or phrase, or different terms for the same concept, or different meanings in different contexts.

Last week I was taught what a many-to-many relationship was, although I already knew that from database design. In another class, I was taught that many-to-many relationships were not good. What they were talking about was that a direct many-to-many relationship had to be converted into a one-to-many-to-one relationship. Well, I knew that. But what is it called?

Sometimes it can be confusing, but learning the language in a certain field is essential to being able to function in it, or even build upon what you are learning. It is the foundation. The terminology may be a little different from someone you may be talking to, but if you can explain it, you can communicate.