3 ms·

On Nexuses: An underrecognised utility in computing (2015)

33 points by goranmoomin 4y ago

Khelavaster 4y ago
"Nexus as pub-sub queue" will be the next fad
- eska 4y ago
  Unironically, I can totally see this with MQTT in the manufacturing industry. It’s unifying the communication a lot which used to be very heterogeneous and proprietary.
swyx 4y ago
interesting idea. databases/warehouses are one form of nexus then. not a platform, but still a nexus. as i went into data engineering I discovered that a lot of people are using ETL tools (like Fivetran and Airbyte where i work) to move data out from saas data silos into a warehouse basically so they dont have to figure out each API themselves. from there multiple teams can rely on the same data without any coordination. i think its a very interesting pattern that basically arises out of CAP theorem (and the pesky fact that APIs are not standardized; SQL is a much better "API" than most APIs)
samsquire 4y ago
I call these branching libraries. Definition: Use one kind of thing as another kind of thing. Given X {scenario,state,message,event,format} do Y Generics gets us some of the way to what we want. https://github.com/samsquire/ideas#48-branching-libraries https://github.com/samsquire/ideas#48-branching-libraries Using a database as a spreadsheet or a spreadsheet as a database, using a spreadsheet as a functional programming language or bash pipeline editor with each cell being the output of that pipeline step. Or reactive programming with spreadsheets. I am trying to solve the expression problem. To introduce a new thing into an old thing you typically need to implement hundreds of functions on an interface. A nexus that composes is what the industry needs
readthenotes1 4y ago
That is the first time I've heard Nexus used in that particular way. Is it custom to the author or a widely accepted definition?
- karmakaze 4y ago
  Seems made up to me. Roughly corresponds to the 'narrow waist' concept or standardization in general. It isn't always good, when bad it could be a 'bottleneck' or impediment diverse innovation, etc. It kind of reminds me of the EU USB Type-C power requirement. It could have been set to expire in say 3-5 years. Then it has to stand on it's own merits. If everything was USB-C, would people be happy about a new Apple proprietary connector that isn't substantially better?
  - TeMPOraL 4y ago
    > If everything was USB-C, would people be happy about a new Apple proprietary connector that isn't substantially better? As long as they included the power brick too, most people wouldn't bat an eye. They'd only get mildly annoyed later, when their cable breaks, or gets misplaced, or they need a second one. But even if they weren't happy, even if they complained loudly, it's not like it would've changed anything. This is a supplier-driven market, people just buy what's being offered.
genpfault 4y ago
(2015)
- dang 4y ago
  Added. Thanks!

33 points by goranmoomin 4y ago

Khelavaster 4y ago

"Nexus as pub-sub queue" will be the next fad

eska 4y ago
Unironically, I can totally see this with MQTT in the manufacturing industry. It’s unifying the communication a lot which used to be very heterogeneous and proprietary.

swyx 4y ago

interesting idea. databases/warehouses are one form of nexus then. not a platform, but still a nexus. as i went into data engineering I discovered that a lot of people are using ETL tools (like Fivetran and Airbyte where i work) to move data out from saas data silos into a warehouse basically so they dont have to figure out each API themselves. from there multiple teams can rely on the same data without any coordination. i think its a very interesting pattern that basically arises out of CAP theorem (and the pesky fact that APIs are not standardized; SQL is a much better "API" than most APIs)

samsquire 4y ago

I call these branching libraries. Definition: Use one kind of thing as another kind of thing. Given X {scenario,state,message,event,format} do Y Generics gets us some of the way to what we want. https://github.com/samsquire/ideas#48-branching-libraries https://github.com/samsquire/ideas#48-branching-libraries Using a database as a spreadsheet or a spreadsheet as a database, using a spreadsheet as a functional programming language or bash pipeline editor with each cell being the output of that pipeline step. Or reactive programming with spreadsheets. I am trying to solve the expression problem. To introduce a new thing into an old thing you typically need to implement hundreds of functions on an interface. A nexus that composes is what the industry needs

readthenotes1 4y ago

That is the first time I've heard Nexus used in that particular way. Is it custom to the author or a widely accepted definition?

karmakaze 4y ago
Seems made up to me. Roughly corresponds to the 'narrow waist' concept or standardization in general. It isn't always good, when bad it could be a 'bottleneck' or impediment diverse innovation, etc. It kind of reminds me of the EU USB Type-C power requirement. It could have been set to expire in say 3-5 years. Then it has to stand on it's own merits. If everything was USB-C, would people be happy about a new Apple proprietary connector that isn't substantially better?
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  > If everything was USB-C, would people be happy about a new Apple proprietary connector that isn't substantially better? As long as they included the power brick too, most people wouldn't bat an eye. They'd only get mildly annoyed later, when their cable breaks, or gets misplaced, or they need a second one. But even if they weren't happy, even if they complained loudly, it's not like it would've changed anything. This is a supplier-driven market, people just buy what's being offered.

genpfault 4y ago

(2015)

dang 4y ago
Added. Thanks!