Head.SmackOnTable();

Stored Procedures are BAD

Muntedhar Alhakim — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:07:53 GMT

This seems to be a really controversial topic between developers. The "Old Skool" developers insist that Stored Procedures are better, faster, and more secure. Maybe 5 - 10 years ago this was the case, but unfortunately these days, it isn't.

"Its More Secure"

Err, not anymore its not. You can have parameterised adhoc SQL :

That is fully functioning code (Albeit it wont work, because of no connection string etc etc etc). Sql Injection wont work with that code.

"Its Faster"

Since SQL 2000 SP4 (I think?), SQL Server now caches the execution plan for adhoc queries too - assuming you run the same query, and only change parameters. And if speed REALLY is an issue, instead of trying to squeeze 0.004% extra speed out of the query (WOW It runs in 58.9 seconds instead of 59 seconds!), maybe have a look at clustering the database.

Other reasons I don't like Stored Procs

People who insist that you have to write stored procedures for all database operations need their head examined. Writing a stored proc for simple CRUD is a waste of developer time, and violates the DRY principle. There is simply NO point in writing a stored procedure that will insert a record - you can simply do that from adhoc sql, and it will be easier to manage.

If you have logic in your stored proc, then you should read up on n-Tier applications, and separation of logic. The stored proc's are simply an extension of the Data Access tier - the DA's tier is simply to fetch the data. IT SHOULD NOT HAVE LOGIC inside it. That's the job of things higher up.

Personally, I think writing SQL statements for CRUD is soo 1999. We have code generators, we have libraries to speed things up. In the 2 years, I havnt really seen a reason to hand write SQL code for use in apps. Simply point a code generator towards it, and hit the magic button, and you have all your CRUD for you.

Even things like nHibernate I dont agree with - personally I see them as DRY violators too. You have to declare the name of the table in the database, then in the code. You have to declare a column in the database, then use the same name in the code. Where you have more than one point you have to declare something, you will run into problems where one of them isnt upto date.

Technorati Tags: Stored Procedure,SQL Server,Quackeroo

Faulty assumptions waste time

Muntedhar Alhakim — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:02:06 GMT

Iv spent the last 3 hours looking into the Facebook.NET api, which is a headache. I would have expected alot better code from someone who is very high up in the .NET community. The issue is, when visiting this Facebook application, if you don't have the application added, this redirects you to add the application. I know this is wrong, because I read alot of the Facebook documentation, and it says you dont have to do this. After tracking down the code through alot of painful debugging (Facebook dont make things easy), I came across this line:

Facebook.Web.FacebookFbmlSession.cs line 61

That piece of code, buried deep in the Facebook.Net framework makes a faulty assumption - you can only view this application if you have added it. I have proven you dont need to do this, the only requirement is to have your self logged into the Facebook application.

Implications?

Basically, the way the Facebook.net API was written, if you want a user to interact with your application, they will HAVE to add the application - this is a pain in the arse for what im trying todo, since I only want certain people to have the application added (and stuff added to their profile) - for simple things like registering a vote, you shouldn't need to have the application added - only their uid (user id), and we can do the rest.

Way forward?

Well im taking out that line, since it makes a wrong assumption. I'm not sure if it was an oversight on the developers side, or wishful thinking.

Stating the obvious

Muntedhar Alhakim — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:08:18 GMT

Well here is a nice lovely error I get at work:

So I try the hibernate website, and I get the really usefulfollowing information:

Oh how useful. VERY useful. YOU HAVE NOT GIVEN ANYADDITIONAL INFORMATION, ONLY REORGANISED WHATS SAID IN THAT DIALOGUE BOX.Maybe a link to the documentation?

Incompetent twats.

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Getting "In the Zone"

Muntedhar Alhakim — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:18:55 GMT

I dont know about anyone else, iv never really been anyone else before, but I find getting into the zone quite hard, but when I get there, I really try to not let myself get knocked out. When im in the zone, I code really good, accurate code, very fast. I dont realize how much I spend on the machine, and I can usually code till 2 or 3am.

A big problem I have with working in the office is Coworkers. The biggest problem I have, is Coworkers. When I get in the zone, and they ask me an unrelated question, it knocks me out of the zone. I loose all those tiny variable names and interface names that were zipping around in my head. I loose the name of the page that I was working on, and I forget what I was doing.

Headphones only work to an extent. A coworker who wants to know why his hosts file entry isnt working will keep trying to get my attention, regardless of weather im wearing headphones or not.

What can I do?

You have accessed an ActiveRecord class t.hat wasn't properly initialized. The only explanation is that the call to ActiveRecordStarter.Initialize() didn't include System.Int32 class

Muntedhar Alhakim — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:55:21 GMT

Actually, that isnt the only explanation. It is a Red Herring. It will distract you from the actual problem, and that is your are using Castle.ActiveRecord.Queries.SimpleQuery<int> INSTEAD of Castle.ActiveRecord.Queries.ScalarQuery<int>, since you are probably just trying to pull just an integer like what im doing:

 string hql = "SELECT max(map.HighestNewRating) FROM XXX map WHERE map.Id = ?"; 

Im guessing that you can only use SimpleQuery to return values that have been initialised, and you cant return anything else, whereas the ScalarQuery can be used for Ints and strings and stuffs like that - in my opinion that is just overcomplicating things, why not just have one query structure, instead of two? Both implement from Castle.ActiveRecord.Queries.HqlBasedQuery but then just add their own flavour of blah'ness ontop to make things extra complicated.

 string hql = "SELECT max(map.HighestNewRating) FROM ModelClassTypeMap map WHERE map.Id = ?";

SimpleQuery<int> query = new SimpleQuery<int>(hql, id);

int[] response = query.Execute();

Will give you an error, whereas this wont:

                 string hql = "SELECT max(map.HighestNewRating) FROM ModelClassTypeMap map WHERE map.Id = ?";

                ScalarQuery<int> query = new ScalarQuery<int>(typeof(ModelClassTypeMap), hql, id);

                int response = query.Execute();

                return response;

Also, why do you have to declare the type when doing a ScalarQuery ? Whats that all about?

How to skin a live monkey by using just your teeth

Muntedhar Alhakim — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:55:16 GMT

... has nothing todo with what im about to tell you. No, really, it dosent. Although, its about the same - a quick how to on how to write SQL JOIN's with nHibernates "super-shitty" HQL

Say heres your bog standard JOIN statement that you want to run:

SELECT * from MODEL INNER JOIN ModelClassTypeMap ON Model.Id = ModelClassTypeMap.ModelID

WHERE ClassTypeId=2 ORDER BY HighestNewRating DESC

You cant simply just rewrite that in HQL. HQL dosent use the "ON" directive. So you have to do multiple FROM statements, then tell it what you want to select. Sound easy? Welp, it isnt:

SELECT model FROM Model model, ModelClassTypeMap classTypeMap WHERE
model.Id = classTypeMap.Model AND classTypeMap.ClassType = ? ORDER BY classTypeMap.HighestNewRating DESC

To me this just seems retarded. You cant copy the sql that youv spent minutes perfecting, but you have to go and rewrite the whole thing so a 3 year old blind child whos been on cocaine for the last 6 months can understand it. Why not just do it so that you can reuse queries that you already have, instead of having to rewrite the whole way you write them? HQL is a poor mans SQL, its shoddy and flaky, and hardly documented.

Happiness is a warm gun.

Small Tip - Preprocessor Directives

Muntedhar Alhakim — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:03:38 GMT

Some people say that using preprocessor directives is just plain evil in c#.net, but it has uses. For example, the #warning and the #error directives will generate a warning and / or an error when used, like so:

C:\Work\SVN\xxx\xxx\xxx\xxx.cs(67,10): warning CS1030: #warning: 'REMOVE ME BEFORE GO LIVE'

Quite useful as a reminder...and you can replace that with an error if you want to make sure something dosent compile, until you have finished the code (useful for working over weekends, in my opinion at least)

Announcing Sky Motoring

Muntedhar Alhakim — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:33:51 GMT

If you have visited the Sky.com site from Monday, you might have noticed the following:

Sky Motoring has gone live!

[Picture Post] Im sick in the head, for finding this funny...

Muntedhar Alhakim — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:27:34 GMT

On this forum that I read:

There was this thread titled “Pets”, the openingpost was:

There were a few responses, which I found absolutely hilarious:

I just found those posts really REALLY funny. Im sick in thehead J

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I saw the strangest thing on the tube today

Muntedhar Alhakim — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:53:21 GMT

I saw an old man (over 70), Asian looking (turns out hes from Bangladesh), in the full Ihram kit - he was going to Umrah (minor pilgrimage, its not required like the Hajj, but you can go whenever you want to do it, as opposed to just going when its Hajj.

I felt a bit sorry for the guy, as he didn't realise that you don't have to wear it immediately after leaving the house, but when you reach the Miqat - the pilgrimage boundary which is a about 200km around Makkah.

A small note - some Sunni's say that you should perfume your body when you enter the state of Ihram - they are wrong, as perfume is one of the 25 "banned" things.

*Edit - I stand correcte d - it turns out, that if the flight goes over the boundaries of the mosque (a few hundred km in each direction), you still have to be wearing the full Ihram kit, so thats a possible reason to be wearing it on the plane. My dad had to do the same a few years ago, when he flew from Kuwait.

Technorati Tags: Hajj, Umrah, Ihram