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by StefanKarpinski 4575 days ago
Condescend much?
1 comments

When I'm right, yeah. Not using "engineer" as a title of authority but as a problem solving technique, maybe the TLDR is its an engineering problem where non-engineers mess up RDBMS incredibly often, and when its blame time, better off blaming the tool than the "designer" so...

"I don't know what I'm doing, but someone who knows what they're doing anecdotally solved a completely different problem using tool XYZ, so for lack of any better idea, lets copy them".

If you're familiar with cargo cult science there is an enormous miasma of cargo cult engineering fogging up the entire database arena not just nosql.

Another concept that needs to be in the discussion is the "no silver bullet" rule from programming applies to database design, like it or not. Can't just sprinkle magic nosql pixie dust on any old random problem and expect it to work, any more than applying any random programing fad to any random problem will work.

The (old and new) tools are actually pretty interesting, although often poorly engineered (by the end user) and implemented. Its the persistent anti-patterns and non-engineering design technique that I'm properly arrogant and condescending toward.

Hammers are a cool new invention and have some great unusual new applications, but they don't install deck screws any better than the legacy screwdriver. Laborers on the job randomly mixing screws nails screwdrivers and hammers on the job and then internet discussions about how hammers and/or screwdrivers suck is nearly physically painful to watch.

Regardless of whether you are right or not, your tone is very off-putting. This is not an academic concern – this sort of attitude is a huge part of why the tech community ends up being very exclusionary. Oh yes, watching someone make mistakes while learning how to build a web application or learn regular expressions is hilarious. Much better to laugh condescendingly while watching them struggle than try to help. Concocting "straw man" noobs everywhere who do things in obviously wrong ways doesn't make you more right. And it definitely doesn't make you smarter. It just makes you seem like a jerk and makes it a little harder for people to stomach getting into the tech field. Please stop.