Ok, now show me a molecule. The Periodic Table of Elements is a deep reference object, not a graphic design template.

Author here, great question :) If principles are the elements, we can think of each system as a "molecule" with some imagination. For example, an SQL database system has many principles:

1. Abstraction Lifting (Al) + Policy/Mechanism Separation (Pm): SQL states high-level intent with precise semantics, and logical operators are decoupled from physical operators.

2. Equivalence-based Planning (Ep) + Invariant-Guided Transformation (Ig): We apply algebraic rewrites that preserve semantics (e.g., join reordering, predicate pushdown) under stated invariants.

3. Cost-based Planning (Cm): We choose concrete physical operators and join orders using a cost model and so on..

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metalliqaz 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

it's both

just by it's ubiquity and success it has become a template for graphical design

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peteforde 3 days ago | parent [-]

The periodicity reflects the allowed solutions to the Schrödinger equation for electrons in atoms. It is not some branding teams' genius design innovation.

Ironically, you are in a superstate between "can" and "should".

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mbb70 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

It is _also_ a colorful collection of boxes that a billion+ people could instantly identify.

Cashing in on that global cultural awareness is just the kind of innovation a genius branding team needs.

It does annoy me when 'Periodic Tables of X' are just lists of color coded boxes, but I get it.

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peteforde 3 days ago | parent [-]

The problem - and it is a problem - is that this is not a good thing.

A billion+ people instantly identify police, but dressing like a cop is a crime.

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emmelaich 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

FWIW, there are other styles which emphasise other aspects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_periodic_tables