[development] Data-driven database tables and updates

[Gerhard Killesreiter]

Chris Johnson wrote:
> Just to play devil's advocate here:
>
> Many programmers who "know" SQL really don't know it very well.

This is certainly true for myself and most of the other core developers. :p

>   The number of really good database developers working on Drupal is 
> smaller than the number of good PHP developers.  While I'm against 
> bloat and yet another API to learn, one argument in favor of a Drupal 
> database API is so that the database is architected by developers who 
> really understand efficient relational database construction and 
> usage, and the SQL for accessing it is likewise good -- instead of a 
> more random quality we have now.
>

Makes sense to me.

Cheers,
    Gerhard