New Testingstan

this is 4.0, tho we're thinking about going to 4.1 for some of the new features there

but if this is much improved, i'd hate to see how bad 3.0 was cuz I'm not timpressed at all.

and the docs still say this http://guides.rubyonrails.org/migrations.html

8 Active Record and Referential Integrity

The Active Record way claims that intelligence belongs in your models, not in the database. As such, features such as triggers or foreign key constraints, which push some of that intelligence back into the database, are not heavily used.

which means they're dead to me

Yeah, a lot of the newer application stacks prefer that you do things like that. It doesn't help that most of them learned "relational" databases on MySQL (which barely counts as one) so it's no wonder the ORM layers push all the business logic out of the database. It also sort of lets you swap backends in and out more easily.

From what little I remember of my lessons on (relational) databases, IIRC we were taught to avoid using things like triggers and stuff, and to use our programs to do the moving around of data through code-generated queries.

We were taught it was "cleaner" to do it that way.

I can see the merit of the idea, though I'm not really a programmer, and my expertise on databases is next to non-existent.

phongn wrote:most of them learned "relational" databases on MySQL (which barely counts as one) so it's no wonder the ORM layers push all the business logic out of the database.

Yea, I used to feel kinda the same way, but then I realized I was building a square wheel when there's a perfectly good round wheel just waiting to be used.

(Ironically, I brought the app vs db thing up in a work chat and the one guy was like "we want to avoid maintaining all the code to do that data consistency stuff" when i was talking about the whole ACID thing. I guess from the end user standpoint it isn't all that big of a deal because the Rails people are maintaining their square wheel. But still it isn't like maintaining FOREIGN KEY and CHECK lines is hard. Nor any other sql for that matter... Again, ruby goes on about how it has these nice DSLs for everything... ummm hello that's what SQL is! I agree writing it can sometimes be a pain which is why i have a thin optional layer over it in my database.d but it is so thin you know exactly what it is doing; it is more akin to an AST (well even that is saying more than it is, it is really just a string builder) than a magic ORM)

It also sort of lets you swap backends in and out more easily.

I often see this listed as a feature but it is never, ever one that I've cared about. I don't wake up in the morning and be like "whelp we're switching to Oracle today" then next week be "changed my mind MariaDB looks new and cool".

It of course comes with a cost too: if all your consistency stuff is in the Rails model, what happens when Ruby proves to be too godawfully slow and you have to rewrite everything in Java? I hope a conversion bug doesn't corrupt your data! (data.... you know, the one valuable asset most web companies have)

adr wrote:

phongn wrote:It also sort of lets you swap backends in and out more easily.

I often see this listed as a feature but it is never, ever one that I've cared about. I don't wake up in the morning and be like "whelp we're switching to Oracle today" then next week be "changed my mind MariaDB looks new and cool".

It's not just that; you could change clustering or sharding strategies too a little more easily. I think a lot of people got burned on adopted various awful popular databases and want to be able to switch relatively easily. I mean, sure, if you start on Postgres or some other sane database you probably have less of a need to do that.

It of course comes with a cost too: if all your consistency stuff is in the Rails model, what happens when Ruby proves to be too godawfully slow and you have to rewrite everything in Java? I hope a conversion bug doesn't corrupt your data! (data.... you know, the one valuable asset most web companies have)

Switch to JRuby? (I know what you mean). But in principle the at-rest data should stay consistent - why bother to convert?

phongn wrote:It's not just that; you could change clustering or sharding strategies too a little more easily. I think a lot of people got burned on adopted various awful popular databases and want to be able to switch relatively easily.

yea.

Switch to JRuby? (I know what you mean). But in principle the at-rest data should stay consistent - why bother to convert?

Well, the data itself would be fine but bugs in the new app could creep problems into it. Suppose you write a new delete method with a buggy cascade, say you pass it the wrong variable, then you have orphaned rows that end up being weird when the ID is reused later. (i've seen that happen)

* * *

so in other news the missionaries rode their bikes to hang out with me tonight

and they got a flat tire

THREE punctures and i only had two patches. so i tried to do the third by wrapping some electrical tape around it but it didn't hold. alas it is like 2 1/2 miles back to where they're living from here. not a horrible walk but a fair distance to do, i was really hoping i could fix their tire

oh well, looks like im going to the bike shop tomorrow to get me moar patches and a new tube

so the publisher is asking me for a bio again. apparently now they want a multi-paragraph one for the front of the book

blargh i'm soooo bad at this

based on the sample here's what i might say

Adam is often conflicted between his burning desire to not work tomorrow and his lazy preference to not work today.

I'd like to thank myself, without whom I could not have completed this book.

so guys after like two years of saying " i really need to update this " i finally decided to update my homepage

http://arsdnet.net/

(do people even have homepages anymore?!?!?!)


but what i'm struggling with is how wild and crazy do i want to be on it

like should i try to keep it a boring resume thing like it is now so when work people see it they don't freak out

should i keep it all like mundane but quasi-personal so random people linking on my facebook will be cool with it and like list my magic the gathering decks or something

what about going further

should i talk about something deeply personal and revealing like my fanfiction

what about my various -isms? (u kno communism, pacifism, MORMONISM!!!!!!!!)


this is potentially a general audience and a good part of me is saying "conceal, don't feel, don't let them know"

but the other part of me is saying "let it go"

and i'm torn

help me new testingstanis

you're my only hope

Jesus fucking Christ, how the hell did Flagg get quoted on TV Tropes?

Everything about those videos makes me think Chris Hansen needs to have a chat with the user base of TV Tropes.

Darksi4190 wrote:Everything about those videos makes me thing Chris Hansen needs to have a chat with the user base of TV Tropes.

As long as they aren't underage or being forced into it incest as a concept doesn't bother me, to be honest. Tropers are into way worse shit than that.

Ralin wrote:Jesus fucking Christ, how the hell did Flagg get quoted on TV Tropes?

so last sunday one of the sisters asked me to fix her laptop and i said i'd try but no guarantees and took it back to my secret laboratory

and it came to pass that i determined it needed a part so i mail ordered it. the part arrived today and it came to pass that i installed it

and it came to pass that the fix was successful! (though like i always do when working on laptops, with one exception, i did some cosmetic damage in the process, and here i did some structural damage too, if she twists this power cord the thing may break back off cuz i actually chipped a non-essential part of the circuit board [!!!] removing the old part! but with a little care it'll be ok. and i have leftover screws. but oh well)


this has made me very excited, i love successful repairs. now i can't wait until tomorrow to see if she's as excited as i am, this thing has been broken for quite a while.

It makes me really angry that OJ Simpson is still in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

Well he had many years doing plenty of other petty criminal and assholish stuff after his alleged act of double murder.

Isn't he in jail for trying to steal a trophy?

Yeah. He claimed it was his and then took some guys into an auction house.

omg omg omg

turns out my new coworker is LDS too!

what are the odds that the two devs hired by this organization, in two different parts of the country, are both members?

GODINCIDENCES ARE REAL MY FRIENDS

or its a godspiracy

EASTER SUNDAY WAS AN INSIDE JOB

Despite all of Jesus' promotion of God, I suspect they may be one in the same person.

pulling a long con

so there's an infomercial on right now for this "feed the children" charity instead of jeopardy!

they are telling stories of working poor people in america

one of them just on was "the only house she can afford to rent is in shambles [...] she had the gas company turn the gas off because she didn't have money to fix a leak"


ok so there's a GAS LEAK in a house she's RENTING...

that's just unbelievable, doesn't the law there have a provision requiring the landlord to at least keep the house not be a LETHAL DANGER to the occupant?!?! i know there is here in New York but maybe there isn't in Kentucky or whereever this was, i don't remember

she needs a lawyer

(and revolution)

cbs evening propaganda tonight talking about rape in college

"the schools are under investigation but that doesn't mean they are guilty"

i find it ironic that they felt the need to explicitly spell that out toward the (rich) folks who protect rapists

i just watched "the postman" starring kevin costner

....and i actually liked it

the united states postal service can by my hero