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Technology Myths

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f0dder:
CWuestefeld: imho you need some database layer abstraction, at least you certainly don't want to sprinkle your code with SQL strings all over. And not for web scripting languages either - it's too ugly and fragile.

You might not want to switch DB provider once the system has launched, but during development it can be handy to be able to test different providers (and if you only need the SQL subset that sqlite supports, boy is it much easier using that than setting up a test db server :)).

A proper abstraction also makes it easier to make use of something like memcached - try that on spaghetti code with SQL strings hanging all over ;)

iphigenie:
You need to be clever as to how you write your code and of course you would structure this to keep the parts that need to know about the database and SQL into one place. But there is not necessarily a need to make it all database-independent. I meant what's the point of having something like Oracle, or postgres, or sql server if you cannot use some of their powerful features and extensions?

CWuestefeld:
imho you need some database layer abstraction, at least you certainly don't want to sprinkle your code with SQL strings all over.-f0dder (November 06, 2007, 05:29 PM)
--- End quote ---
Of course I want a (one, singular) data abstraction layer. But I don't know why I would want a second one so that I'd have the opportunity (say) rephrase all of my stored proc calls to work through Oracle.

You might not want to switch DB provider once the system has launched, but during development it can be handy to be able to test different providers-f0dder (November 06, 2007, 05:29 PM)
--- End quote ---
I don't think so. I know the target is SQL Server, and I have another SQL Server available to me for development; why in the world would I want to develop against something different, and risk getting to production only discover we'd made a mistake?

BTW, I definitely don't want SQL strings all over. In fact, my rule is NO SQL strings anywhere -- everything goes through a stored proc (although I haven't quite figured out how to square this with LINQ, if indeed I decide to use it).

icekin:
Technology myths I've heard of :

1) "Overclocking gives improved performance for free.

I once knew a guy in my college dorm who used to build PCs for people at a price, based on custom parts from Pricewatch. He offered overclocking as if it was a legitimate 'free' upgrade option. Some of the PCs he built had up to 10% - 15% overclocked Front Side Bus.

I am not saying overclocking is bad, but to not inform his customers of the consequences (overheating, fried processors etc.) was incorrect. Its never free, the cost to be paid is higher risk and possibly reduced stability and lifespan of components.

2) AMD is better for overclocking and games than Intel

While Thunderbird XP and Duron were far better than their Intel counterparts (Pentium III and the old Celeron) in terms of value, the new core 2 HT processors as just as capable of playing the best games. I have also tried overclocking both my  Intel Pentium 4 3Ghz with HT as well as the Thunderbird XP machine. Both are quite capable of being clocked up with the right mainboard.

3) "Clearing the pre-fetch cache improves performance. In fact, disable it altogether!"

I don't know why so many tweaking programs offer this option. There may be reasons to clear the cache once in a while, but to disable it makes little sense. I thought the the purpose of pre-fetch was to improve software startup time and thus raise performance. Maybe someone can shed light on this.

There are plenty more in the hardware world.

Ralf Maximus:
Faster CPU == Better Performance

Usually false.  Only because no matter how fast your workstation clocks in at, most applications are hideously disk-bound.  I've gotten whiz-bang performance from "slow" PCs by bolting on a fast RAID system, or quadrupling the amount of RAM.  Unless you're crunching huge spreadsheets, running Vista, or sequencing DNA, most CPU cycles go to "idle" time.

Oh, and the myth perpetrated by Dell that pink or yellow computers are cool.  They are not.  They just aren't.  Sorry.

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