Fabian Pascal

Fabian Pascal is a consultant to large software vendors such as IBM, Oracle Corporation, and Borland, but is better known as an author and seminar speaker. Born in Romania, Pascal lives in the San Francisco, California area of the U.S., and works in association with Christopher J. Date.

Pascal is known for his sharp criticisms of the data management industry, trade press, current state of higher education, Western culture and alleged media bias. Pascal advocates strict adherence to the principles of the relational model, and argues that departing from the model in the name of pragmatism is responsible for serious data management troubles. Criticism of Pascal's advocacy often centers around his polemical style, which some perceive as overly confrontational and unprofessional.^[1]

He has retired from the technological industry and now does political commentary, specially on Middle East issues.^{[citation needed]}

Quotes

• "A lot of what is being said, written, or done in the database management field — or whatever is left of it — by vendors, the trade press and "experts" is irrelevant, misleading, or outright wrong. While this is to a degree true of computing in general, in the database field the problems are so acute that, claims to the contrary notwithstanding, technology is actually regressing!"^[2]

• "The relational model is application of science — logic and math — to database management. The notion that one is "fanatic" about that is tantamount to claiming that civil engineering is fanatical about the laws of physics. Such a claim reveals problems more serious than ignorance of data fundamentals, and THAT is what deserves disdain." Fabian Pascal, August 29 2005 ^[3]

Publications

• Pascal, Fabian (1990). SQL and relational basics. Redwood City, CA: M&T Books. pp. 336 pp.. ISBN 155851063-X. OCLC 21037159.  LCCN 90-005525 LCC QA76.73.S67 P37 1990

• Pascal, Fabian (1993). Understanding relational databases with examples in SQL-92. New York, NY: Wiley. pp. 278 pp.. ISBN 0-47158538-6. OCLC 27812796.  LCCN 93-007595 LCC QA76.9.D3 P3486 1993

• Pascal, Fabian (2000). Practical issues in database management : a reference for the thinking practitioner. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley. pp. 256 pp.. ISBN 0-20148555-9. OCLC 43434672.  LCCN 00-022984 LCC QA76.9.D3 P34855 2000

See also

• Christopher J. Date
• Hugh Darwen
• David McGoveran
• Nikos Lorentzos
• POOD (Principle of Orthogonal Design)
• POFN (Principle of Full Normalization)

References

External links

• DBDebunk.com (Fabian Pascal's website)
• "Truth, Fads and Principles: What's Wrong with the Database Industry?" (An interview with Fabian Pascal)
• Articles by Fabian Pascal at DBAzine.com

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