Suppose that a parts inventory database contains a onecharacter field for category, such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic. The
design works well, but what if the company decides to break these overall groups
down into more specific segments? Why should there be a limitation of just one
character? A better design would anticipate possible expansion to two or more
characters. For example, many people recall the concern called the Y2K issue,
when some older programs that used only two characters to store the year might
not adjust properly to the new century.