How not to "communicate" with a server



  • One part of our application creates resources that will be served by a third-party web application. The obvious way to get that web application to use those resources would be to use a fairly simple REST API the application exposes.


    Unfortunately this is not the way things are done here. The task of putting these resources into the application was given to someone who had never done anything related to web applications or REST with a time limit of 2 days. His solution: run the web application in a local server instance accessed by clients instead of talking to an instance in the larger system of the users (no idea how they sold THAT). When a new resource is generated the application is shut down and the resource is inserted directly into the applications data files which are not part of the public API.


    That means our application now works like this:

    1. A user creates one of these resources and saves them somewhere
    2. The user moves the resource (which consists of 2 files) to a watched directory
    3. The importer application picks up that the watched directory has changed and shuts down the app server
    4. The importer application overwrites the internal data representation of the web app with one that includes the resources currently in the watched directory
    5. The importer restarts the application server


    That was about 5 major updates for the web-app ago. We are unable to update because changes to the internal data representation are not part of the change logs. And management seems unwilling to let us re-implement this functionality with the REST API because the old version looks like it works. Even though the whole importer application could be replaced by adding a single method to one of our libraries.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @witchdoctor said:

    When a new resource is generated the application is shut down and the resource is inserted directly into the applications data files which are not part of the public API.
    The only way you could make this all much worse is by revealing that this was genuinely the easiest way to do it. That would be horrifying.



  • @witchdoctor said:

    ..The task of putting these resources into the application was given to someone who had never done anything related to web applications or REST with a time limit of 2 days. ... And management seems unwilling to let us re-implement this functionality with the REST API because the old version looks like it works. Even though the whole importer application could be replaced by adding a single method to one of our libraries.
     

    At least management is getting the blame...Given the information provided it seems like the "Someone who did the work" did the best they could do given the circumstances and conditions....



  • @TheCPUWizard said:

    @witchdoctor said:

    ..The task of putting these resources into the application was given to someone who had never done anything related to web applications or REST with a time limit of 2 days. ... And management seems unwilling to let us re-implement this functionality with the REST API because the old version looks like it works. Even though the whole importer application could be replaced by adding a single method to one of our libraries.
     

    At least management is getting the blame...Given the information provided it seems like the "Someone who did the work" did the best they could do given the circumstances and conditions....

    A lot of our codebase is like that. People doing the best they could given the circumstances and conditions, over years.



  • @witchdoctor said:

    A lot of our codebase is like that. People doing the best they could given the circumstances and conditions, over years.

    That's how the new iTunes was unleashed on innocent iPod owners.



  • @Ronald said:

    That's how the new iTunes was unleashed on innocent iPod owners.

    Nobody who owns an iPod should be considered "innocent".



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Ronald said:
    That's how the new iTunes was unleashed on innocent iPod owners.

    Nobody who owns an iPod should be considered "innocent".

    Did you try the Galaxy Player? Or the new Sony Walkman? They both make the Zune look like a masterpiece.



  • @Ronald said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ronald said:
    That's how the new iTunes was unleashed on innocent iPod owners.

    Nobody who owns an iPod should be considered "innocent".

    Did you try the Galaxy Player? Or the new Sony Walkman? They both make the Zune look like a masterpiece.

    I haven't had a dedicated device for playing music in ten fucking years. Get with the times.



  • @MiffTheFox said:

    @Ronald said:
    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ronald said:
    That's how the new iTunes was unleashed on innocent iPod owners.

    Nobody who owns an iPod should be considered "innocent".

    Did you try the Galaxy Player? Or the new Sony Walkman? They both make the Zune look like a masterpiece.

    I haven't had a dedicated device for playing music in ten fucking years. Get with the times.

    My Sony Mini-CD player is still going strong, brah.



  • @MiffTheFox said:

    @Ronald said:
    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ronald said:
    That's how the new iTunes was unleashed on innocent iPod owners.

    Nobody who owns an iPod should be considered "innocent".

    Did you try the Galaxy Player? Or the new Sony Walkman? They both make the Zune look like a masterpiece.

    I haven't had a dedicated device for playing music in ten fucking years. Get with the times.

    There are two main use cases for playing music:

    1. At home or at work
    2. Not at home and not at work

    This here discussion is mostly about use case #2, in which case you can replace "iPod" with "iPhone", "Galaxy Player" with "Galaxy", and "Zune" with "Lumen" and have the same issue.



    For a while I had hope in Amazon MP3 as I use their Audible service and am very satisfied (it even synch Kindle and Audible bookmarks when one has both the eBook and audiobook versions of a book). But it's not as good as the Apple store, which unfortunately requires the painful iTunes.



  • @Ronald said:

    This here discussion is mostly about use case #2, in which case you can replace "iPod" with "iPhone", "Galaxy Player" with "Galaxy", and "Zune" with "Lumen" and have the same issue.

    Music plays okay on my Android phone. Like most things in Ice Cream Sandwich, it worked better in earlier versions of Android.

    @Ronald said:

    For a while I had hope in Amazon MP3 as I use their Audible service and am very satisfied (it even synch Kindle and Audible bookmarks when one has both the eBook and audiobook versions of a book). But it's not as good as the Apple store, which unfortunately requires the painful iTunes.

    What kind of person buys MP3s?



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    What kind of person buys MP3s?

    The way things are heading, everyone will end up renting MP4s so I guess you are right.



  • @Ronald said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    What kind of person buys MP3s?

    The way things are heading, everyone will end up renting MP4s so I guess you are right.

    I'm already renting my rims, my sofa, my flat, my girl-friend, and my PC, so why not rent my music too?



  • @drurowin said:

    @Ronald said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    What kind of person buys MP3s?

    The way things are heading, everyone will end up renting MP4s so I guess you are right.

    I'm already renting my fat girl-friend

    FTFY. Also: ewww.



  • @Ronald said:

    @drurowin said:

    @Ronald said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    What kind of person buys MP3s?

    The way things are heading, everyone will end up renting MP4s so I guess you are right.

    I'm already renting my fat girl-friend

    FTFY. Also: ewww.

    She said "Tone, lemme tell you one thing.  I need 50 dolla to make you holla, I get paid to do the wild thing."

     



  • @Ronald said:

    There are two main use cases for playing music:

    1. At home or at work
    2. Not at home and not at work

    I own a Kindle. I read books. I'm better than you.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @Ronald said:
    There are two main use cases for playing music:

    1. At home or at work
    2. Not at home and not at work

    I own a Kindle. I read books. I'm better than you.

    I read only dead-tree books. And unlike the ripped-bodice romance novels you read, I read classic literature and contemporary non-fiction. So better than both of you!



  • @drurowin said:

    'm already renting my rims

    Huh?

    @drurowin said:

    my sofa

    Dude, what the shit? Who rents their furniture??

    @drurowin said:

    my girl-friend fursuit

    FTFY.

    @drurowin said:

    and my PC

    Man, you would fit right in at the rent-to-own trailer park, I tell you what..



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @drurowin said:
    'm already renting my rims

    Huh?

    @drurowin said:

    my sofa

    Dude, what the shit? Who rents their furniture??

    @drurowin said:

    my girl-friend fursuit

    FTFY.

    @drurowin said:

    and my PC

    Man, you would fit right in at the rent-to-own trailer park, I tell you what..

    Tax is so high in Blighty that we're better off renting.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @Ronald said:
    There are two main use cases for playing music:

    1. At home or at work
    2. Not at home and not at work

    I own a Kindle. I read books. I'm better than you.

    Well, looks like we got ourselves a reader.



  • @drurowin said:

    Tax is so high in Blighty that we're better off renting.

    HA HA HA HA HA! Oh god, that's beautiful!!

    But I thought you said Britain was a "sane" country? lolz



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @drurowin said:
    Tax is so high in Blighty that we're better off renting.

    HA HA HA HA HA! Oh god, that's beautiful!!

    But I thought you said Britain was a "sane" country? lolz

    How much is your sales and use tax in the USSA?



  • @Ronald said:

    @blakeyrat said:
    @Ronald said:
    There are two main use cases for playing music:

    1. At home or at work
    2. Not at home and not at work

    I own a Kindle. I read books. I'm better than you.

    Well, looks like we got ourselves a reader.

    Bill Hicks is about as funny as inoperable pancreatic cancer.



  • @drurowin said:

    How much is your sales and use tax in the USSA?

    There is no Federal tax. States, counties and some cities will have their own (which add on top of the level above them, usually.) My current rate is 4-something, dunno exactly. It's state and maybe county. There is no city tax since there's no city.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Bill Hicks is about as funny as inoperable pancreatic cancer.

    He's in my top 3, following XKCD and Big Bang Theory.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @drurowin said:
    How much is your sales and use tax in the USSA?

    There is no Federal tax. States, counties and some cities will have their own (which add on top of the level above them, usually.) My current rate is 4-something, dunno exactly. It's state and maybe county. There is no city tax since there's no city.

    No wonder your economy's fucked and you can't afford to hire enough police to fight crime, and open enough hospitals to take care of your sick.



  • @drurowin said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @drurowin said:
    How much is your sales and use tax in the USSA?

    There is no Federal tax. States, counties and some cities will have their own (which add on top of the level above them, usually.) My current rate is 4-something, dunno exactly. It's state and maybe county. There is no city tax since there's no city.

    No wonder your economy's fucked and you can't afford to hire enough police to fight crime, and open enough hospitals to take care of your sick.

    You don't understand the system. In America, politicians can legally receive bribes from big lobbies, so they don't have to get into embezzlement like their European counterparts.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @drurowin said:
    How much is your sales and use tax in the USSA?

    There is no Federal tax. States, counties and some cities will have their own (which add on top of the level above them, usually.) My current rate is 4-something, dunno exactly. It's state and maybe county. There is no city tax since there's no city.


    It's ridiculously complicated. In some jurisdictions school districts, transportation agencies, libraries and other quasi-governmental organizations are allowed to tack on their own taxes. Of course, the boundaries of the districts represented by these agencies do not coincide, so you wind up with a hodgepodge where you, your next-door neighbor and the guy across the street may all have different rates.

    The sales and use tax rates in WA are above average at about 8.5 to 9.5%, depending on the locality, but WA has no state income tax, so they make up for it with the sales tax. OR has just the opposite, so people who live close enough tend to go across the border to shop. CA has both state income tax and above-average (7.5 state, 0.25-1.5% county, city and other) sales tax rates.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @blakeyrat said:
    I own a Kindle. I read books. I'm better than you.

    I read only dead-tree books. And unlike the ripped-bodice romance novels you read, I read classic literature and contemporary non-fiction. So better than both of you!

    I only read histories.



  • @drurowin said:

    No wonder your economy's fucked and you can't afford to hire enough police to fight crime...

    Bullshit. We have more than enough police. Besides, police are nowhere near our top expense--welfare is the big culprit here. Also, 4% is the sales tax, there are still thousands of other taxes, you dolt.

    @drurowin said:

    ...and open enough hospitals to take care of your sick.

    Most of our hospitals are private. And we probably have too many of those, too. The truth is, our homeless people seem to get better health care than your middle class, which is greatly amusing.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    CA has both state income tax and above-average (7.5 state, 0.25-1.5% county, city and other) sales tax rates.

    Yeah, CA is nuts. A large part of why it's a failing state. shudder


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @drurowin said:

    No wonder your economy's fucked and you can't afford to hire enough police to fight crime, and open enough hospitals to take care of your sick.

    Oh, we can hire plenty of police. We just can't afford to keep paying all of them after they stop working (well, unless you're Detroit, of course...they can't afford much of anything any more). Anyways, what does taxes have to do with opening a hospital? The main hurdle to opening a hospital is that in most (all?) states the hospitals operate a cartel and must decide that a new hospital is needed before it can be opened.

    But we can afford to buy stuff, since we don't tax the bejezus out of everything...yet*.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    @blakeyrat said:
    I own a Kindle. I read books. I'm better than you.

    I read only dead-tree books. And unlike the ripped-bodice romance novels you read, I read classic literature and contemporary non-fiction. So better than both of you!

    I only read histories.

    I choose to believe you put that up just to impress me.



  • @boomzilla said:

    Filed under: * Does not apply in California New York New Jersey and Illinois

    The IL rate is 6.25%, which isn't that high, compared to other states.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I choose to believe you put that up just to impress me.

    Is it working?



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    I choose to believe you put that up just to impress me.

    Is it working?

    Yes.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Yes.

    Woot! goes back to drinking beer and playing video games for 10-year-olds



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    Yes.

    Woot! goes back to drinking beer and playing video games for 10-year-olds

    Scary thought of the day: 4 years from now, the 10-year-olds will not have had a Half-Life game released in their lifetime. 10 is more than half of my age.



  • @Ben L. said:

    Scary thought of the day: 4 years from now, the 10-year-olds will not have had a Half-Life game released in their lifetime. 10 is more than half of my age.

    Scary thought of the day: we let people under 20 use the Internet, and this is what we get.


    I did just realize you were born after the original Jurassic Park was released. :(



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I did just realize you were born after the original Jurassic Park was released. :(

    Althoooough... according to my calculations, Cool Runnings was released about 9 months before you were born. So it's quite plausible your parents shared a spliff, took in the John Candy vehicle and then your dad rode your mom like an Olympic bobsled.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Ben L. said:
    Scary thought of the day: 4 years from now, the 10-year-olds will not have had a Half-Life game released in their lifetime. 10 is more than half of my age.

    Scary thought of the day: we let people under 20 use the Internet, and this is what we get.


    Scary thought of the day: people who were born after the death of Elvis (or the death of John Lennon for those who believe Elvis is alive) should not make fun of younger people.



  • @Ronald said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ben L. said:
    Scary thought of the day: 4 years from now, the 10-year-olds will not have had a Half-Life game released in their lifetime. 10 is more than half of my age.

    Scary thought of the day: we let people under 20 use the Internet, and this is what we get.


    Scary thought of the day: people who were born after the death of Elvis (or the death of John Lennon for those who believe Elvis is alive) should not make fun of younger people.

    Who pissed in your farina, grandpa?



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Ronald said:
    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ben L. said:
    Scary thought of the day: 4 years from now, the 10-year-olds will not have had a Half-Life game released in their lifetime. 10 is more than half of my age.

    Scary thought of the day: we let people under 20 use the Internet, and this is what we get.


    Scary thought of the day: people who were born after the death of Elvis (or the death of John Lennon for those who believe Elvis is alive) should not make fun of younger people.

    Who pissed in your farina, grandpa?

    Another scary thought of the day: some people think that the Decade of Reagan was the 80s.



  • @Ronald said:

    Another scary thought of the day: some people think that the Decade of Reagan was the 80s.

    When else would it have been? The 80s gave us the Reagan Administration, the Reagan tax-cuts, "Reaganomics" and the "Reagan steamer" sex act.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @morbiuswilters said:

    then your dad rode your mom like an Olympic bobsled.
     

    Half-blind down an icy tunnel, with three other guys in the rear?



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    then your dad rode your mom like an Olympic bobsled.
     

    Half-blind down an icy tunnel, with three other guys in the rear?

     

    +1 would chuckle again

     



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    then your dad rode your mom like an Olympic bobsled.
     

    Half-blind down an icy tunnel, with three other guys in the rear?

    That's about right.

     



  • @Ben L. said:

    @blakeyrat said:
    @morbiuswilters said:
    Yes.

    Woot! goes back to drinking beer and playing video games for 10-year-olds

    Scary thought of the day: 4 years from now, the 10-year-olds will not have had a Half-Life game released in their lifetime. 10 is more than half of my age.

    Portal 2 came out in 2011.

    (Edit: I looked it up, and it was 2011.  Dammit.)



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I did just realize you were born after the original Jurassic Park was released. :(
    Is it me, or was Jurassic Park the last movie to have reasonably accurate scenes depicting a character interacting with a computer system?



  • @drurowin said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    I did just realize you were born after the original Jurassic Park was released. :(
    Is it me, or was Jurassic Park the last movie to have reasonably accurate scenes depicting a character interacting with a computer system?

    The Matrix Revolutions came out like a decade after that and had realistic hacking (at least inside the matrix).

    Also I just realized The Matrix Revolutions itself came out a decade ago...

     

    Addendum


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