Explaining a Database to Non-Programmers (It Won’t Play Your Flash Movie)

In 2007 someone in a meeting asked me whether our new SQL Server 2005 could play their flash movie. My answer became a small joke on this blog, and it taught me that explaining a database to non-programmers is a skill worth practicing.

The Flash Movie Question

My answer that day was: yes, it is the latest 2005 version of SQL Server, and it still will not play your flash movie. The room laughed. I laughed. The person who asked laughed too, a little later.

They were not wrong to ask. To most people, a server is a big expensive computer, so surely it does big expensive computer things. Nobody had ever told them what a database actually does.

Start Explaining a Database With a Library

When I start explaining a database to someone new, I use a library. The books are the rows. The shelves are the tables. The card catalog is the index, so nobody walks every aisle to find one book. The librarian is the database engine, who knows where things live and fetches them fast.

The library does not write the books. It does not read them aloud. It keeps them safe, keeps them in order, and finds the right one when you ask.

Say What It Does Not Do

Half of a good explanation is the list of things a database will not do. It will not play videos. It will not design your report by itself. It will not fix a wrong phone number that someone typed in. It stores what it is given, very reliably.

Saying this out loud early saves a lot of disappointment later, and a few flash movies too.

Explaining a Database With One Real Question

People understand questions and answers. So I show one question in plain words, then the same question in SQL:

-- How many orders did we get today?
SELECT COUNT(*) AS OrdersToday
FROM dbo.Orders
WHERE OrderDate >= CAST(GETDATE() AS date);

Then I show the answer: one number. That small moment does more than any diagram. The person now knows a database is something you ask questions, and it answers from what it has stored.

Keep the Promise Small

I end with three promises. It remembers facts safely, even if the power goes out. It answers questions fast, even with millions of rows. It stops two people from overwriting each other’s changes at the same time.

Those three promises are enough for any meeting, and they are all true.

Related reading on this blog: Absolute Beginners 10 Queries and Time Machine Advice: What I Wish I Knew When Starting with Databases.

The next time someone asks a funny question about the server, smile, and answer it kindly. They are asking because they want to understand.

A database is not a magic computer, it’s a very good librarian for your facts.

Published by Pinal Dave on SQLAuthority. More of my work at pinaldave.com.