Are the only types of data "sources" static and dynamic?

Posted by blunders on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by blunders
Published on 2011-02-26T15:55:08Z Indexed on 2011/02/26 23:32 UTC
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Thinking that there might be others, but not sure -- but before getting into that, let me explain what I mean by static and dynamic data sources.

  • Static (or datastore) - Meaning that the data's state is non-changing, and if was changed, that would be a new state, and the old data would be considered stateless; meaning it no longer is known to exist, or not exist. Another way of possibly looking at a static data source might be that if read and written back without modification, the checksum for before and after should be exactly the same regardless of the duration of time between the reading and rewriting of the data. Examples: Photos, Files, Database Record,
  • Dynamic (or datastream) - Meaning that the data's state is known to be in flux, and never expected to be the same per input. Example: Live video/audio feed, Stock Market feed,

First let me say, the above is a very loose mapping of the concepts, and I'd welcome any feedback.

Next, onto the core of the question, that being are these the only two types of data sources. My guess, is that yes, they are -- but that there are hybrid versions of the two. That being, streaming data that has a fixed state. For example, the data being streamed has a checksum given and each unique checksum is known to be a single instance of static data. On the flip side, static data could be chained via say a version control system; when played back, each version might be viewed as a segment of a stream; thing is, the very fact that it can be played back makes the data source static. Another type might be that the data source is being organically discovered, and it's simply unknown what the state is.

Questions, feedback, requests -- just comment, thanks!!

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