Conection as Object
Tech | No comments | February 23rd, 2009
Be forewarned: rambling post ahead.
Sometimes I get ideas in my head and I can’t tell if it is something really cool or just the looney thoughts of a somewhat delirious Dad. So you have been warned. Read on at your own risk…
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It has occurred to me that when we typically try to depict, or model, networks and relationships, we put the majority of the data in the nodes. And very little of the data in the connection.
The first problem with this model is the assumption that each node is uniform and the same from any perspective. In reality every node is unique depending on your perspective. Does anyone believe that they are seen the same by their spouse as they are by their Boss or by their drinking buddies? Of course not. So how do you represent this differently.
I suggest that there is a core amount of data that does belong in the node, but the bulk of the data belongs in the connection itself. This becomes shared data between the two nodes and unique to the relationship. Graphically it may look something like this:
Obviously this concept still has a lot of development, but if you made it this far, congratulations, you must be one of the few that finds stuff like this fascinating. Drop me a note. I would love to talk about this.