I was wondering if anyone knows. Is 'flat' the opposite of hierarchal? Does it come from a phrase like, "this is a flat-out regular file"?
+1
A:
Well an imaginative way would be flatfiles can be imagined in one plane, a flat surface ,the more complicated DBs have connection between tables which can only be imagined in 3d :P
Ravi Vyas
2010-04-29 22:31:00
+2
A:
A flat file is read into a flat data structure, it is essentially an array. One big flat list of values.
A better way to store data would be in a binary tree for example. this data is not flat as it has a root and nodes.
A non flat data structure makes sorting and search much more efficient.
Byron Whitlock
2010-04-29 22:47:34
A:
Your speculation is correct: flat files are "flat" in that they do not have an internal hierarchical structure.
Derrick Turk
2010-04-29 22:58:45
+3
A:
Looking at the wikipedia article (and one of its references), the 'flat' in flat file is as opposed to structured file, where the structure can be heirarchical, relational, or a few other formats.
Kathy Van Stone
2010-04-29 22:59:30
+1 for reference and for mentioning that there are multiple types of structures a file can be in other than flat.
tster
2010-04-29 23:03:13