I probably would have agreed 100% a year ago. But now, with the discussion of n-Tier development, I think you can divorce (or view separately) the two.

For example, the database arguable exists outside of any application that might access it. (If we start thinking enterprise-wide applications.) So if your database depends in anyway on your application to maintain integrity, what happens when another division writes and application that accesses pieces of the database?

>I do not know if you can totally divorce the 2. {snip} Conversely, sound application design is essential to data integrity as well.