To: Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net>
Cc: Jeroen Ruigrok/asmodai <asmodai@wxs.nl>,
	David Fetter <david@fetter.org>, pgsql-docs@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: The Tutorial(TM) 
In-reply-to: <200401081020.00181.peter_e@gmx.net> 
References: <TyudnZdaUc0gMWGiXTWc-g@speakeasy.net>
	<200401080722.53433.peter_e@gmx.net>
	<20040108075229.GE85110@nexus.ninth-circle.org>
	<200401081020.00181.peter_e@gmx.net>
Comments: In-reply-to Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net>
	message dated "Thu, 08 Jan 2004 10:20:00 +0100"
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2004 12:14:56 -0500
Message-ID: <11933.1073582096@sss.pgh.pa.us>
From: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>

Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> writes:
> I feel that there is a very useful dividing line between chapters 2 and 
> 3: chapter 2 is about getting the data in and out, to give beginners a 
> feeling that the database system is working, chapter 3 is about 
> refining the data structures for higher convenience, maintainability, 
> and integrity -- "design".

Perhaps a reasonable compromise would be to divide the material into 3
chapters instead of 2 --- beginner, intermediate, advanced.  Looking
at the existing TOC:

2. The SQL Language
     2.1. Introduction
     2.2. Concepts
     2.3. Creating a New Table
     2.4. Populating a Table With Rows
     2.5. Querying a Table
     2.6. Joins Between Tables
     2.7. Aggregate Functions
     2.8. Updates
     2.9. Deletions
3. Advanced Features
     3.1. Introduction
     3.2. Views
     3.3. Foreign Keys
     3.4. Transactions
     3.5. Inheritance
     3.6. Conclusion

I'd be inclined to put aggregates, transactions, foreign keys, and views
into the "intermediate" category, leaving only inheritance as
"advanced".  (Or maybe we should just drop inheritance from the tutorial.)
You could possibly even argue that joins are intermediate instead of
basic, although that's stretching it a bit.

I agree with Peter's point that the first thing to teach is how to get
data in and out.

			regards, tom lane