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Sproter also 'created substantial developer friction,' Snyder added, because it required DBAs to write stored procedures for nearly every piece of site function

Sproter also 'created substantial developer friction,' Snyder added, because it required DBAs to write stored procedures for nearly every piece of site functionality—and created a bureaucracy developers had to go through to get functionality made. Sounds like a horror story. And to reiterate the last statement of the article: if you're doing something "clever" you're probably doing it wrong. Or in other words, if you don't know what the hell you are doing, then copy someone who probably knows what they are doing.

lurker19 15y ago
The insane part is that a startup has bureaucracy, not that code is in a RDBMS.
- MartinCron 15y ago
  Bureaucracy is just process that you don't like, isn't it?
  - RyanMcGreal 15y ago
    It goes beyond that. Process is rules that stop people from being able to do things they shouldn't; bureaucracy is process that stops people from being able to do their jobs.
    - MartinCron 15y ago
      Process is rules that stop people from being able to do things they shouldn't People tend to disagree on what should or shouldn't be able to do. Should a developer be able to release code to production servers? Should a developer be able to change the database schema? Should a developer be able to access the database tables through an ORM or ad-hoc SQL or must everything go through stored procedures? A healthier way to look at process is that it's about facilitation, not control.
      - artsrc 15y ago
        Bureaucracy is a kind of process group think. It involves adherence to fixed, externally defined, rules. Each contributor is doing things in a way they think are cumbersome and difficult to change. The alternative to fixed rules, is to discuss issues and tradeoffs, and trust developers to make good decisions based on knowledge.
        MartinCron 15y ago
        and trust developers to make good decisions based on knowledge I would add to that, "give individuals enough room to make mistakes that everyone, especially themselves, can learn from"

lurker19 15y ago

The insane part is that a startup has bureaucracy, not that code is in a RDBMS.

MartinCron 15y ago
Bureaucracy is just process that you don't like, isn't it?
- RyanMcGreal 15y ago
  It goes beyond that. Process is rules that stop people from being able to do things they shouldn't; bureaucracy is process that stops people from being able to do their jobs.
  - MartinCron 15y ago
    Process is rules that stop people from being able to do things they shouldn't People tend to disagree on what should or shouldn't be able to do. Should a developer be able to release code to production servers? Should a developer be able to change the database schema? Should a developer be able to access the database tables through an ORM or ad-hoc SQL or must everything go through stored procedures? A healthier way to look at process is that it's about facilitation, not control.
    - artsrc 15y ago
      Bureaucracy is a kind of process group think. It involves adherence to fixed, externally defined, rules. Each contributor is doing things in a way they think are cumbersome and difficult to change. The alternative to fixed rules, is to discuss issues and tradeoffs, and trust developers to make good decisions based on knowledge.
      - MartinCron 15y ago
        and trust developers to make good decisions based on knowledge I would add to that, "give individuals enough room to make mistakes that everyone, especially themselves, can learn from"