Posts tagged “databases”

I explain how databases actually work: what a DBMS is, why relational databases use tables, why NoSQL became a marketing term for mostly-in-memory stores, how your app connects to a database, and how replication and network topology affect consistency versus availability. A deep dive sparked by one friend's simple question.

SQL is ugly but powerful, ORM is genuinely dumb, and "NoSQL" should really be called OMADS: Obviously More Appropriate Data Stores. Start every project with an RDBMS, add specialized stores where they fit, and stop apologizing for using SQL. Forty years on, nothing beats it for ad-hoc questions about your data.

Long weekend, but swamped with work. Here are some recent bookmarks: Marvel Dotcomics, SamSpade.Org for network tools, the hilarious Things My Girlfriend and I Argue About, a currency converter, and an Oracle 8i SQL reference online.