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Design Patterns & Data::ObjectDriver

It's sad to see that the Class::DBI mailing list and wiki have closed down, for a number of reasons...

For one thing, I can feel for Tony--it's always hard to have a project that you're working on (out of your own time, for a job, or whatever) criticized, and to have customers--whether they're developers or end users--not happy with your decisions or the pace of your releases. That said, I don't know enough about the situation to say much more than it looks to have gotten out of control much more quickly than it should have.

But from another angle, the discussion about design patterns is really interesting to me (and, I gather, to a lot of people on the cdbi list).

It's a really fascinating problem, designing an extensible object-relational mapper (and a common one for people on CPAN). We've had a good, working mapper in Movable Type and TypePad since the first release of Movable Type (the venerable ObjectDriver code), which works with Berkeley DB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and a number of other databases that people have hacked it to work with.

Over the past couple of months, we've been revisiting our ObjectDriver code with the idea of keeping (mostly) the same calling structure, but adding layers for caching and database partitioning, and releasing the entire mess to CPAN as a module called Data::ObjectDriver. (Brad wrote about this, as well.)

The idea is to make application development simple; if that makes creation of new database-backed objects a little more difficult, then so be it. For example, with partitioning, we're not attempting to go the DB2 route of saying "anything can be partitioned in any which way, and we'll handle it all!"--frankly, while I honestly think that database partitioning is a feature any database platform should have, it's a hard problem, and is pretty application-specific. So what we're doing is preventing a mental model for doing partitioning: figure out what objects you want to use to partition your data on, and we'll do the mechanical work of automatically connecting to the right database and performing all operations there.

But the applicable part here is that we've talked a lot about getting the design pattern first for all of the drivers. In particular, we're converting TypePad to use the new Data::ObjectDriver, but we have a couple of extensions we want to make to it. We've talked through multiple inheritance, delegation, mixins, etc. Eventually we settled on using delegation, with a DBI-like system of a core Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::DBI class, which provides the main driver functionality, and Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::DBD subclasses for specific database platforms (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc).

In addition, I've long thought that one of the main problems with Class::DBI is the fact that it's two things in one class: it's simultaneously the base class for all database-backed objects, and the class with all of the mechanical code to generate SQL statements.

Some of the design decisions that have always been in the ObjectDriver code--the separation of the core into a BaseObject and Drivers, which are 2 separate classes--will help to solve some of the Class::DBI problems. That's not to say that we won't replace those with other problems, of course. :)

Newness

In an attempt to reinvigorate my poor, stagnant weblog, I'm now using a new design theme (from the new TypePad release). And I'm turning on comments again, now that I can use comment authentication.

Me frustran con mi TiVo.

Many times when I turn on our TiVo, it's recording Spanish-language programs.

Or more specifically: it's recording Spanish versions of movies or TV shows that I enjoy. And so the dilemma is, if I thumbs-down the program, is it going to influence my taste for the original English program, or only for the Spanish? For example, if I thumbs-down "Harry Potter y el compartimiento de secretos", is that going to unduly display a dislike for fantasy films about a young wizard and his trials at boarding school? It's quite vexing.

Onwards from 2004

I didn't do a wrapup post for 2004, and if there's one post you can count on me for per year, it's a wrapup post. So here is a semblance of such a post.

The past couple of years, I've made my sisters mix CDs at Christmas. Yes, we get them other presents, but I like making mix CDs, so I do that as well. This year, I even went all out and made covers & track listings, because I'd gone to the trouble of loading CD artwork into iTunes, and I finally had a chance to take advantage of it.

So anyway, I also made a CD for my dad, this year, which I hadn't done before. But what I realized a couple of days after giving him the CD is that the songs have a lot of, erm, fairly "inappropriate" language on them--specifically, language that shouldn't be a CD that you're giving to your dad. For Christmas.

But, listening to a lot of music, and being around my foul-mouthed wife, I didn't even think twice about it--and the worst part is that my dad doesn't notice lyrics at all, so he'll happily pass along the CD to my 12-year-old brother. Who does notice lyrics.

But hey! I didn't include "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)".

---

Here's a little montage of the some of the music I've listened to most myself this year, courtesy of Tatsuhiko Miyagawa's What you've listened to this year script.

Of course, that only includes stuff on Amazon or where I've listened to a lot of the album, so in addition:

• Maxi Geil & Playcolt, "Here Comes Maxi"
• Gwen Stefani, "Luxurious"
• Kylie Minogue, "I Believe in You"
• Destiny's Child, "Lose My Breath"
• Portobella, "Covered in Punk"
• J.C. Chasez, "All Day Long I Dream About Sex"
• !!!, "Hello? Is This Thing On?"

Amazing things:

• Seeing the Pixies in concert
• Seeing Jane Birkin in concert

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Anyway, I enjoyed 2004. It was very filled with work and work-related things. And for that, I think my previous post sums that up best.

And for 2005... well, I think it's going to be an exciting year. It already is!

Start to Move

Reading Mie's post today really touched a nerve in me, particularly combined with our office move to San Francisco.

Mena's packed-up boxes.

It's been 18 months now that we've been in the San Mateo office(s), and it's incredible how much the company has grown, both mentally and physically. From 3 people scattered in a largely empty 1400 square-foot office with phone cables strung all over; to 4, then 5; and then as we started growing more quickly, what seemed like a new person or 2 every week, until we had to spill out into a 4000 square-foot office just so we weren't all on top of each other.

And remembering all of the late nights around the Movable Type 3.0 launch, and then the all-night push to actually make the launch, and all of the drama that erupted the following morning. That was not a pleasant morning. Anil and I were fretting both about website glitches and the, um, responses to the licensing changes. And then I remember Maile arriving in the morning, and somehow that made things more manageable, having someone who hadn't been through that night, and who could see things from a slightly less deranged perspective.

Anyway, it's just sort of sad reminiscing about things that now seem so long ago and surreal, and tonight driving home from this office for the last time, I got all like a maudlin old fuck in the car thinking about it. It's just sentimentality, of course, and I recognize it for that, but that doesn't help.

It's just that there are few things that I actually get emotional about, and one of the few is this company, and all of the amazing people that have come to work here. I'm so proud of what this company has done, and in the end, it's exciting that we're all moving together into a new space and a new phase.

My Listening Mood

I've been in a very album-listening mood lately. Well, that's not completely true--over the past week I've been listening constantly to Usher's "Yeah," going so far as to make it my ringtone.

But other than that, I've been listening to albums on a whole. A couple of those albums follow.

Maxi Geil & Playcolt, A Message to my Audience - Found through FluxBlog, I am now both obsessed with Guy Richard Smit and his alter ego. The album is fantastic, with "Please Remember Me" a particular standout, with Maxi channeling over-the-top Manifesto-era Bryan Ferry. Now I just want a Maxi Geil shirt! (They're out of stock.) (Support an artist today!)

Phoenix, Alphabetical - Phoenix are French, so by that metric, I shouldn't even have to listen to them in order to like them. But, since I have, I like their charmingly uncool mix of early 80s pop and soul that much more.

The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat - What can I say, other than that I think this album is amazing, and I've never heard a song that makes me as thrilled to hear music as "Chris Michaels".

Why don't you just...

The weirdest thing about the Orkut newsletter that Jeremy Zawodny received is the closing:

stay beautiful, orkut.com team

"stay beautiful"? Is this a Manic Street Preachers mailing list?

Enjoy the 10-Minute Cooking Pearls!

Two months ago, I got it into my head that running a bubble tea shop might be a really fun side business. I even contemplated setting up a bubble tea stand at work.

Two months later, I finally got around to making some bubble tea myself, with predictably lame results.

A couple of notes:

• It's a bad sign when Step 6 is "fill shaker glass with ice cubes to 70%", and Step 7 is "fill shaker glass with cold water to 70%".
• The "10-minute cooking pearls" were still somewhat hard in the center after 10 minutes of cooking.
• The strawberry fruit powder bubble tea tastes medicinal.
• I really need to try making bubble tea using syrup instead of powder.
• Making the pearls is the most time-intensive part, and they don't keep very well. That part put me off so much that I haven't made bubble tea for about a month and a half.

EOY 2003

It's been a hugely interesting year, if a very stressful one. And fast.

Now, at the end of it, and in looking back, and in looking forward to another, my mood is probably best illustrated by what I've been listening to the last couple of days:

Scritti Politti, First Goodbye - A first-rate Green Gartside ballad from the 1999 record Anomie & Bonhomie. Somewhat sappy, I guess, but that's fine.

Pulp, Wickerman - While I don't like to resort to X meets Y comparisons, this is sort of "Cargo Culte"-era Serge Gainsbourg meets "Mercy Seat"-era Nick Cave, with a huge orchestra build and a generally depressed industrial thing going on. It's very good.

The Darkness, Love on the Rocks with no Ice - Apparently a huge crowd-pleaser at live shows, and I could see why--multiple stop-and-starts, a huge guitar break and outro, and that ever-present Justin Hawkins falsetto.

All somewhat melancholy, perhaps at the passing of this interesting year, or perhaps just at ever-advancing age, or perhaps because I'm posting this on New Year's Eve instead of doing something enjoyable, etc.

But that's 2003.

But enough whining--some favorite things from 2003:

• Launching TypePad, seeing Movable Type growing in popularity, and building up Six Apart to its current size.
• Meeting Claire, Phil, and Amelia.
• Return of the King. I could not have been happier with the entire trilogy.
• Traveling to Japan, Chicago, New York, and Washington DC, and meeting people and seeing friends in all of those places.
• Spending more time listening to music. In no particular order, favorites from 2003:
  • !!!, Me and Giuliani Down By the Schoolyard
  • Beyoncé, Crazy in Love
  • Electric Six, Danger! High Voltage
  • Killer Mike, A.D.I.D.A.S.
  • Kylie Minogue, Slow
  • Outkast, Hey Ya!
  • The Raveonettes, That Great Love Sound
  • Scooter, Weekend
  • Sugababes, Hole in the Head
  • The White Stripes, Seven Nation Army
  • A.R.E. Weapons, Street Gang
  • Justin Timberlake, Love Don't Love Me
  • The Rapture, House Of Jealous Lovers
  • The Postal Service, Such Great Heights
  • Basement Jaxx, Plug It In
  • The Darkness, Love Is Only A Feeling
  • Frank Black, My Favorite Kiss
  • Scissor Sisters, Laura
  • Ms. Dynamite, Dy-Na-Mi-Tee
  • Kelis, Milkshake

Why the American What Not To Wear is not as Good as the British Original

Right down to the stolen opening segment, the American What Not to Wear is really just a horribly pale imitation of the British version.

And it really comes down to the hosts, Clinton Kelly and Stacy London.

They are the epitome of the camera-hungry, smug American host; they are the Alex McLeod/Paige Davis to Susannah and Trinny's Carol Smillie. They seem to think that they, not the woman being made over, are the stars, and they can't stop preening and performing for the camera. I don't think I'm being naive--I know that Susannah and Trinny are probably just as self-promotional as Clinton and Stacy--they have a book, after all--but the fact is, they know how to present themselves on the show so that they don't look like self-obsessed primadonnas. Whereas Susannah and Trinny actually look like they make an effort to make the woman feel attractive, Clinton and Stacy would probably drop their tiaras and run if the cameras weren't there.

And what's worse, they're really not very funny or bitchy--they're just fussy, and that's fucking boring. I know that people often complain about the Queer Eye Fab 5 being nothing but gay stereotypes, but really Queer Eye shows much more respect for the Fab 5 than WNTW has for its "fashion experts," Clinton in particular. It feels like Clinton's every move has been scripted to portray the fussy-but-sterile gay male without any of the individuality or personality that the Fab 5 bring to Queer Eye.

Postscript: I know What Not to Wear has been out for a while on TLC, and even been through several incarnations of hosts, but we just got TLC, so we're catching up.