Re: [Tcl-tdbc] [TCLCORE] Last-minute comments on TIP #308

[Brian G. <bgr...@mo...>]

Larry McVoy wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 10:23:47PM -0400, Kevin Kenny wrote:
>   
>> Twylite wrote:
>>     
>>> (4) (... says he, drawing a breath ... ) the NULL thing.  Yes Kevin, I 
>>> heard that this isn't up for negotiation ;)  No, I don't want NULLs in 
>>> Tcl.  But the answer to "how do we return a row which may have NULLs and 
>>> may have duplicate column names and is easy to process whether you want 
>>> to treat it as a list of values or reference individual values by column 
>>> name" is also linked to my previous two points - in particular how to 
>>> get both a list & a dict representation of a given row.
>>>       
>> OK.  I was a bit strong in my rejection of discussing NULLs. But
>> I didn't want people demanding that 308 be rejected because it failed
>> to address 185.  
>>     
>
> Hey, live by the sword, die by the sword.
>
> It's pretty clear that NULL is useful.  Instead of going "blah blah blah
> I can't hear you, EIAS, I can't hear you", address the fucking issue.
> All of the other dynamic languages have addressed it, and I, for one,
> in my non-sanctioned role as gadfly, will bring this up over and over
> again.  And if it derails any tip, oh, well.
>
> Address the fucking issue and stop hiding behind this silly mantra of
> EIAS.  It's a useful concept, agreed.  Moderation in all things.  In
> case you haven't noticed, EIAS hasn't exactly taken the world by storm.
>   

Since I tend to think in pictures, I drew a picture which I think 
succinctly describes the issue and the reason it is a complication in 
Tcl.  I also believe it shows the various solutions in Tcl.


file:///u/bgriffin/Documents/NULLS_in_Tcl.gif

-Brian

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