Database Alignment Chart

Database Alignment Chart Access Purist (must be queryable with a query language) Access Neutral (must be queryable with a language) Access Radical (queryable in any way) Function Purist (must contain digital data) PostgresSQL is a database Excel is a database Dwarf Fortress is a database Function Neutral (must contain information) A library is a database A senior engineer is a database A file cabinet is a database Function Radical (can contain anything) Battleship is a database Subway checkout counter is a database A fridge is a database

A 3×3 alignment chart classifies increasingly broad things as databases, from PostgreSQL and Excel to a fridge and a game of Battleship. The joke is that the definition of “database” becomes absurdly expansive across the function and access axes, especially in the radical categories. It is used as a humorous reaction by programmers and tech communities to debates about what counts as a database.

• @profunctor_io / 8355 2022-10-14