SQL Antipatterns

Antipattern: Specify Values in the Column Definition

Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream

In 1953, this famous chain of ice cream parlors offered one flavor for each day of the month. The chain used the slogan 31 Flavors for many years.

Today, more than sixty years later, Baskin-Robbins offers twenty-one classic flavors, twelve seasonal flavors, sixteen regional flavors, as well as a variety of Bright Choices and Flavors of the Month. Even though its ice cream flavors were once an immutable set that defined its brand, Baskin-Robbins expanded its choices and made them configurable and variable.

The same thing could happen in the project for which you’re designing a database—in fact, you should count on it.

Many people choose to specify the valid ...