The superiority of surrogate versus natural keys is a hotly debated topic among database developers. Susan Harkins offers some insights into when -- and why -- you might choose one over the other.

If you've worked with relational database systems for any length of time, you've probably participated in a discussion (argument?) about the topic of this month's column, surrogate keys. A great ...

A surrogate is, 'One appointed to act in place of another.' A surrogate key is appointed to act in place of a natural key. Why? Well, one could argue that surrogate keys existed since the beginning of ...