Re: [9fans] web server

[erik quanstrom <quanstro@quanstro.net>]

On Fri Apr 17 08:33:12 EDT 2009, uriel99@gmail.com wrote:
> And then you would need some hideous SQL database.
>
> As ken said: we have persistent objects, they are called files; and
> that is what werc uses.

i feel compelled to defend one of my favorite quotes
of all time from misapplication.  i'm sure that werc is
well-engineered for its domain, but the mistake i see
is generalizing this into sql sucks.

just as a point of pedantry, in a standard sql database,
there are no objects.

sql does not suck.  here's why.  sql databases are really
good at keeping relationships between rows (here's the
important part) with no locking visible to the client.
even better in the face of non-static requirements,
more relationships can be added on the fly.  it's hard
to do this with flat files, and file-based locking (like
upas does for mbox files) is pretty tricky.

- erik