10 tips for choosing between a surrogate and natural primary key Your email has been sent The superiority of surrogate versus natural keys is a hotly debated topic among database developers. Susan ...

If you’ve worked with relational database systems for any length of time, you’ve probably participated in a discussion (argument?) about the topic of this month’s column, surrogate keys. A great ...

A surrogate is, “One appointed to act in place of another.” A surrogate key is appointed to act in place of a natural key. Why? Well, one could argue that surrogate keys existed since the beginning of ...

Which makes for a better primary key: natural data points or meaningless values? Database developers have strong opinions on this facet of primary key design. This article settles the debate once and ...

As a massive cargo ship plowed into the Key Bridge, killing six men and folding steel into mangled, unrecognizable chunks that fell to the bottom of the Patapsco River, a hidden threat lay below.