03 October 2006

How to Explain This II

Someone asked my opinion today, "how would you find duplicates in this table?" I asked him to clarify because that seemed straightforward. He ammended his question, "how would you find items here that are not in this list?" I was confused.

Draw a picture, I asked.

He drew a sample of the two sets of data and explained "For this entity, there are items 1, 2, and 4. For another entity, there are 2, 3, and 5. I want to find the missing items." He wanted to find the GAPS in SEQUENTIALLY NUMBERED sets. I wasn't getting that until he drew the picture.

This is (as I posted months ago) a frustration I have often. Sometimes it is due to my own confusion, just as often though it is because English doesn't cut it. Draw a picture instead.

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