The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

Best of 2023: Modular Dependencies

by Remy Porter in Best of… on 2023-12-28

SQL is hard, but it's a lot harder when you're "clever". This tale highlights an… interesting solution to code reuse. --Remy

Many years ago, Valts and his spouse both worked for the same company. The company had an ERP system that started its life as a product back when ERP systems were novel and new. It was written in Delphi, and it was huge- so huge that the company needed to hack the Delphi linker to handle its size.

Well, their company got swallowed up by Initech, and after the buyout, things changed. Valts left, and a few years later so did his spouse. But they kept in touch with their colleagues, so it was over dinner that former co-worker Viktorija related the recent disaster she had stumbled across.

9 comments - Last comment @ 2024-01-01

Best of 2023: Around the World (Around the World)

by Remy Porter in Best of… on 2023-12-27

Poor Sandra, this article is but one bad day in a slew of bad days dealing with geographic data and WTFs. --Remy

Sandra has ongoing issues. When we last checked in, we had some problems with geography, and those problems haven't been solved.

Now, one truth of geographic points is that they're bounded. We know, for example, that longitudes cover the range (-180,180), and latitudes are always (-90,90). Even if we change the coordinate system, it will still have bounds, as the Earth is a closed shape with finite boundaries.

11 comments - Last comment @ 2023-12-29

Best of 2023: The Microservice Migration

by Remy Porter in Best of… on 2023-12-26

It's the last week of the year, and as per tradition, we look back at some of the best stories of the year. We start with this charmer, from February, a… little slice of brillant architecture. --Remy

"Why aren't we using microservices?"

It was an odd way to start a meeting, but it got Mr. TA's attention. TA was contracting with a client, and sitting in a meeting with their senior architects. TA and one of his peers exchanged a glance and a small eye-roll. They knew exactly what had happened: Alvin, the senior architect, had learned about a new fad.

20 comments - Last comment @ 2024-02-13

Recent Best of…

Best of 2023: Modular Dependencies

Best of 2023: Around the World (Around the World)

Best of 2023: The Microservice Migration