Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • What’s a Code Smell?

    We all have a variety of code patterns and practices that we follow. Most of them were probably picked up along the path of our career. A suggestion from a colleague. A piece of sample code that solved a problem. A performance tuning trick that stopped our phone from ringing. These methods of learning are the way that most of us actually grow our skills over time.

    However just because we learned something, or because a technique solved a problem doesn’t mean it was a good piece of code. In fact, often the code we may think works well might not be the most efficient way to structure the code. Many developers have learned this over the years, as they read about new techniques that are more efficent, elegant, or just simpler.

    Kent Beck and Massimo Arnoldi coined the term code smell years ago, as a way of noting the development patterns and practices that  lead to poorly written, or difficult to maintain code. There have been other attempts to document practices which are not recommended, though the success is probably limited as many developers continue to build on poorly written code rather than refactoring and cleaning their codebase over time.

    Simple Talk  and Phil Factor published a SQL Code Smells ebook awhile back, trying to document the signs of poorly written T-SQL. The book is good, with guidance about particular patterns that can cause you problems over time. The items aren’t meant to be rules, but rather guidelines that you adhere to unless you have a good, specific reason that you can justify to others.

    I ran into a code smell recently where a developer noted that their application depended on a specific database name in order to work.  That’s not in the ebook, but I think it’s easily one I’d avoid. My connection should determine the database, not the application itself. I know there may be exceptions here, but in general, application code shouldn’t be dependent on a particular name.

    I’d urge you to pick up the ebook (it’s free) and keep it handy. See if any of the items listed are habits you might have picked up over time and not realized that they are, in fact, poor practices. I would also recommend you peruse Aaron Bertrand’s Bad Habits to Kick series, as a way of improving your own code.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.9MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

  • The Work of the Ancients

    I was reading a post from someone recently where they noted that they didn’t worry to much about the architecture of the system since it wouldn’t likely last very long. The poster had a comment that many systems are replaced inside of a few years.

    In my experience, that’s not usually the case. In fact, while I don’t expect many applications I’ve worked on to last for 25 years, I suspect many of them will exist for ten years or more, especially if they are receiving regular development resources. With that in mind, I wanted to see how your databases are faring these days. I suspect a database might last longer than a particular application, as it seems most organizations are loathe to ever let data go.

    What’s the age of your oldest, regularly used database?

    I’m looking for an age in years. If the answer is less than one, I’m not sure I’d call that old at all. I am sure many of your  systems are older, and might have changed, but let us know the year when the system went into production.

    I can tell you the SQLServerCentral systems are old in some ways, not so old in others. We’ve grown from one database to three over the years. The oldest database is circa 2003. Some of the data from that one was migrated to other databases around 2007. We’ve got data in the system since 2001, but we’ve certainly changed structures and storage over the years.

    I’d guess that most of you that are working in companies that are older than ten years will have a database that’s at least that old. However let us know this week, and if you have any interesting notes, feel free to share them.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.4MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

  • Have a Think

    I’m used to working at a chaotic pace. I have lots of diverse projects and deliverables that constantly force me to change my focus. I have short term and long term projects. I work with diverse technologies. My workload is a mix of development and administrative tasks. It’s a hectic schedule that gets worse when I travel since SQLServerCentral must continue to run.

    Years ago I was struggling with daily deliverables, the bimonthly SQL Server Standard magazine, and a couple book projects a year. It was maddening, especially when my business partners also wanted me to experiment with ways to grow our business. I wondered, how would I ever find time to dream up new ideas or implement a proof of concept.

    Andy Warren helped me slow down by scheduling “thinking time.” He told me it was important, and he had to make some at his job. Carve out an hour once a week or so and just spend time thinking about a project. Don’t do; just think.

    I have kept that advice in mind over the years, and I try to take some time to just think about the tasks I need to accomplish. I don’t worry about actually getting anything done, but instead try to just think about the best way to move forward. I don’t always succeed, but I continue to try to make time and just think.

    Whether you run a business or just write code for one, I think the art of stopping and thinking is a bit lost. So few of us actually stop to spend some time planning. Instead we’re very quick to start writing code or trying out a configuration change. While I am a proponent of experimenting, I still think it’s worth taking a few minutes and just consider different ways to experiment. Often we can choose better experiments if we have a plan.

    Try it this week. Take ten or fifteen minutes and think about the next task rather than diving right in. You might find it to be a more valuable tool than just experimenting.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

  • Are you a Data Scientist?

    It seems that there’s no shortage of re-branding attempts being made in all industries and by all types of people. I still remember when most of us were called computer programmers instead of developers. Not many people writing C# or Java code would want to be called “programmers” today.

    One of the latest fads is the call for more data scientists to work on big data, another equally, poorly defined term. However it seems that he definition of what a data scientist is has been so ill defined that almost anyone that can write a query using aggregates might define themselves as a data scientist.

    A good thing if you are looking for a job. Many of you might find opportunities (and raises) if you convince a hiring manager that you are a data scientist. However I’d be wary of living on just the new brand without growing your skills. If your company comes to expect more, especially with regards to advanced statistical analysis, you might find yourself in a bind.

    I ran across a piece that looks at the skills that a data scientist might actually need. I don’t know how many managers might understand the difference between simple discrete rules engines and more subtle, complex, multi variable, adaptive algorithms, but there can be a big difference in how well the system actually performs for your company.

    No matter what you choose for your carer, I’d certainly encourage you to continue to learn more about how to work with data. Whether you want to learn more about statistics, pick up R, or improve your visualization skills. Keep Learning. Keep your brain active and work to improve before you find yourself without a job and in need of training. Every little bit you learn helps and the practice of continuous improvement builds a habit that will serve you well over time.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.