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Discuss the meaning of "relational". #367

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7 changes: 6 additions & 1 deletion episodes/00-sql-introduction.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -112,9 +112,14 @@ which is stored as one of its fields.
Records may also contain keys that refer to records in other tables,
which enables us to combine information from two or more sources.


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The *relational* concept is connected with organizing information across multiple tables in the database.
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The phrase "is connected with" feels vague, and I'm not sure that this sentence adds anything beyond what's in 118. I'd consider omitting it.

The *relationships* between tables in a database can be established (or even enforced) in different ways, through the use of keys and other constraints.
In many small datasets we have only a few tables and we don't have to think about cross-references within datasets.
The idea of *relational data* becomes more and more important as the amount and complexity of data grows. This provides the motivation for using relational databases: to organize data through related keys.
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This is getting into the rationale for using relational databases--would it make sense to put these lines under "Why use relational databases" below?



## Databases

### Why use relational databases
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