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I had a project with a client who didn't like databases. He demanded that all data was to be written in plain text files. I then spent a couple weeks writing c
by probably_wrong 7y ago
I had a project with a client who didn't like databases. He demanded that all data was to be written in plain text files.
I then spent a couple weeks writing code that would allow me to query those files for records with specific IDs and cross-reference those IDs with information on other files.
You know, just like a database does. Only slower, probably buggier, and with no real ACID compliance. Whoever came after me must have thought that I was an idiot.
- Smithalicious 7y agoSounds like something that'd be part of Plan 9
- jarofgreen 7y agoYou reminded me of a project I came into like that, a long time ago. Reason? One of the directors wanted to be able to install this web app on his laptap, but it already had to much crap on there, and he didn't want to install a database. So we had to use files. No, this web app was going to be installed on a proper web server. He just might want it on his laptop too. You know, just in case. Weird thing was, later we had to do various indexing stuff .... so we just put a database in. The files were still the source of truth, the database was more like a caching layer.
- altmind 7y agoIsnt there some microsoft ODBC provider that can execute sql-like query against text or csv file? I faintly remember something like that.
- probably_wrong 7y agoYour comment made me look into it. I think you mean the "Microsoft Text Driver", included in the now-deprecated Microsoft Jet Database Engine. I found some references to it going as back as 2003, so there's a good chance that it was already around at the time of my project. I'll keep your comment in mind for the next time one of those threads titled "what would you tell your past self?" pops up.