Re: Article on new mainframe use

On Fri, 23 Aug 2024 02:31:46 -0500, BGB wrote:

On 8/22/2024 9:36 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>

On Thu, 22 Aug 2024 15:59:34 -0500, BGB wrote:
 

Underused: It is a sensible way of structuring data, but needing to
interface with it though SQL strings is awkward and inefficient.

 
Actually, that works fine in any language with decent string handling.
 

String processing adds bulk and inefficiency.
Granted, maybe not enough to matter in the face of a typical database
query.

Remember what Knuth (or maybe it was Hoare) said: “Premature optimization
is the root of all evil”. String processing has to be in the language for
other reasons (think: composing messages and processing input when
interacting with a human user), why not use it for this?

Also, it is quite common now to use text-based protocols for networks
(e.g. messages in JSON format). That may sound inefficient, but it eases
debugging so much, that has become a major consideration.

But, I was left thinking, some programs use SQLite, which exists as a
single giant C file. I guess it technically works, but has the downside
of adding something like IIRC around 900K or so to the size of the
binaries' ".text" section.

SQLite is so resource-light, it’s the world’s most popular DBMS. You
almost certainly have a copy literally at your fingertips right now, in
your mobile phone.