How to Recognize the Antipattern
The following phrases may indicate that the Metadata Tribbles antipattern is growing in your database:
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“Then we need to create a table (or column) per …”
When you describe your database with phrases using per in this way, you’re splitting tables by distinct values in one of the columns.
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“What’s the maximum number of tables (or columns) that the database supports?”
Most brands of database can handle many more tables and columns than you would need, if you used a sensible database design. If you think you might exceed the maximum, it’s a strong sign that you need to rethink your design.
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“We found out why the application failed to add new data this morning: we forgot to create a new table for the new year.” ...
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