> But the geometric space explosion of cross-products makes you want to create new abstractions to cover more ground, and you start to lose what tables gave you to begin with.
What kind of abstractions are you thinking of? ORM?
There is an interesting comparison between tables and s-expression on c2.com that might interest you:
"The average for TOP is higher than es-exp's in my opinion, so they are the better general-purpose tool, especially if complexity of a project grows over time. I rarely see project complexity shrink over time, thus it seems more logical to emphasize the higher end when making a judgment rather than the lower end. If you see dark clouds on the horizon, you should pick the bigger umbrella even though the current rain may be light. -- top "