Re: question on serial key

s == sam@samason.me.uk writes:

 s> On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 08:41:46AM -0500, Brandon Metcalf wrote:
 s> > I am looking for criteria on deciding whether or not to use a serial
 s> > (auto-incrementing) key for rows in a table.

 s> Wow, that's the second time today someone asked that!

 s> > Intuitively, it's pretty clear to me when a serial index is called
 s> > for.  Is there a succinct set of guidelines that one could go by?

 s> Not that I'm aware of; it's a fuzzy design choice with benefits and
 s> costs for either option.  There are lots of people who arbitrarily
 s> pick one side which tends to make things worse, using one or the other
 s> *exclusively* will add complication.  General terms to search for are
 s> Natural keys vs. Surrogate keys.

The search terms help.  I wasn't searching for the right thing and
finding very little information.

--
Brandon