[Year 12 IT Apps] Data type for postcode

[Roland Gesthuizen]

The town of Barooga, NSW has the postcode of 3644 as it uses the Cobram, VIC postoffice on the other side of the Murray River

There is more! Here is a nice table of exceptions to the postcode database validation rule that many are probably thinking of building. It is a fascinating share to me by Paul Cowan from Google who I met at a CS4HS workshop

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcodes_in_Australia#Allocation

I like the original thought that Mark shared .. if you do maths with it, then it is probably a number. If not, then play safe and leave it as a text field.

Regards Roland

Roland Gesthuizen | eLearning Leader 
Keysborough College DEECD
http://about.me/rgesthuizen

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

On 03/06/2013, at 10:50 AM, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:

> Also OT.  
> 
> An interesting read about memory tricks is "Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer. It does destroy the romance of eidetic memory, somewhat, but if you've ever needed to memorise the position of every card in 54 packs, it's very good reading.
> 
> 
> On 2 June 2013 23:40, Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com> wrote:
> Warning, off topic.
> 
> During a tour of the USA our family heard a human memory chip at a street show who was guessing the location of places when people suggested to him a random town or postcode. My kids thought to toss him a wild one by shouting out our postcode. He grinned and politely asked if there were Australian. When they indicated yes he grinned and after a moments hesitation, correctly quoted the name of our suburb. Later as he counted coins from his cat-in-the-hat prop he explained that Australians made it really easy to memorise postcodes with some basic rules and algorithms that have already been mentioned.
> 
> I'm still not sure, Learning Klingon still seems easier by comparison.
> 
> If you have nothing better to do whilst marking tests or reports this Monday evening, join Amanda and I with another ACCELN Hangout. You can register interest or listen in at http://acceln.wikispaces.com
> 
> Regards Roland
> 
> Roland Gesthuizen | eLearning Leader 
> Keysborough College DEECD
> http://about.me/rgesthuizen
> 
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
> 
> On 30/05/2013, at 11:57 AM, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:
> 
>> Phone numbers will never have arithmetic done to them, but I'm sure postcodes will - to find neighbouring regions, for example, for mailouts.
>> 
>> 
>> On 30 May 2013 09:18, Mark Scott <msc at luther.vic.edu.au> wrote:
>> There is a quite simple rule that I teach my students
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Data is formatted as a number only if it might be used in a formula.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Postcodes and phone numbers won’t ever be used in a formula so they are text.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Mark Scott
>> 
>> Luther College
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Mark Kelly
>> mark AT vceit DOT com
>> http://vceit.com
>> 
> 
> --
> Mark Kelly
> mark AT vceit DOT com
> http://vceit.com
> 
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