Keep. It. Simple.
How simple should software development be? Steve notes it can be simple, but not too simple.
2024-10-09
178 reads
software development
Storing and Retrieving the Initialization and Configuration Data for Applications
All developers hit the problem of how and where to store and set their configuration, profile, or initial data. A long time ago, it was generally decided that simple text files containing key/values were best, stored with the application. After all, you are relying on being able to entice busy people to get the permanent settings right for their requirements, folks who are generally not interested in your elegant computer science constructs. Not only that, but the settings must be parsed very quickly and efficiently, otherwise a process that uses the tool will slow to a crawl.
2024-10-04
Bad Stored Procedures
Stored procedures can be poorly written, but Steve prefers them over embedded code.
2024-09-20
418 reads
Event Streams for Persistent and Asynchronous Microservice Communication
This article looks at how you can use event sourcing to maintain persistent and asynchronous communication between microservices.
2024-09-11
A Lack of Architecture and Planning
Today Steve talks about how we end up with software systems that don't appear to be well engineered.
2024-08-19
202 reads
A Programmer's Attitude
The way we approach development can have a big impact on quality, as well as how smoothly our team works together.
2024-07-19
165 reads
The Cost of Rework
Steve notes that we're always better doing things better the first time. That takes some effort.
2024-07-01
155 reads
Common Algorithm Concerns
Steve doesn't have a lot of concerns about AI models writing code and reusing algorithms, but others might not feel the same way.
2024-05-29
198 reads
There's No Free Lunch with Open-source Software
As a member of the PostgreSQL open-source community, I have been following the recent license change by Redis Labes on March 20, 2024. Redis introduced a dual license model, specifically adding the Redis Source Available License (RSAL), which prevents other vendors from providing Redis as a service without a paid subscription from Redis Labs. The […]
2024-04-13
156 reads
The Code Freeze
Today Steve discusses code freezes, those times when you don't allow changes to be made by developers.
2024-04-10
216 reads
Blogs
Stupid Things I Did With AI: ASCII Art
By Steve Jones
I ran across this article recently (https://www.gatesnotes.com/meet-bill/source-code/reader/microsoft-original-source-code) and it has a great opening piece...
Simple Talks Podcasting in 2026
By Steve Jones
I’m in the UK today, having arrived this morning in London. Hopefully, by this...
SSMS 22 still inserting tabs instead of spaces
I’m not trying to start up a debate whether you should use tabs or...
Forums
Cumulative Update 23 - KB5074819 - Database Mail - No longer working.
Hi there, Has anyone else had any trouble with Database Mail in Cumulative Update...
Script Task execution error with HTTP request
I have a script task that tries to execute a HTTP request, which seems...
SQL Server 2025 Standard Developer Edition
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server 2025 Standard Developer...
Question of the Day
URL Safe or Not?
If I use BASE4_ENCODE() in SQL Server 2025, is the output URL Safe by default?
See possible answers